What Changed
by clumsy.carrie
Summary: Rose Mehta is the forgotten best friend of the boys,the girl who was left behind in LaPush while her friends left.When her twin begins to pull away too,Rose must for once in her life fight for her friends.But what if it was her that drove them away?
1. In Which Derrick Has a Fever

Chapter 1 High School: Friendless Style

I pulled into the student parking in my high school, my hands curled tightly around the steering wheel in my hummer, the latest in a rash of presents from my uncle. Ah, to be the niece everybody pitied. Nice clothes, nice car, nice home, and a screwy mother. Welcome to the Mehta Family.

I resisted my urge to reverse the hell out of the car and back up all the way to my home, get the hell away from the hell hole that had become high school. God, if only my stupid friends hadn't ditched me, being Rose Mehta might not have sucked quite so badly.

I opened my car door and hopped out, lifting my backpack out of the passenger seat with me, and slinging it onto my back. I shut the door and locked it, clipping the car keys onto one of my belt loops, maybe the only useful trick my mother had ever taught me: keys on belt loops only got lost if you lost your pants, and when you lose your pants, lost keys are not your biggest issues.

I tucked my headphones in my ears, pressing shuffle on my iPod and tucking it into my back pocket, walking towards LaPush High School. The first day of senior year, and I was ashamed to say that I had not one friend in this entire building. That was just pathetic.

I'd had friends, at one point. Only boys, mind you, but friends. Embry Call, Jake Black, Quil Ateara, Jared Gentry, even Paul Wainscott, the jackass that he was. I'd even been friend-ish with Kim Connweller and her confidante about her _massive _crush on Jared until Jared woke up to the reality of having the girl behind you in Spanish be in love with you and started dating her. But Embry, Jake, Quil, Jared, Paul and Kim were all friends now. Guess who wasn't invited to _that_ lunch table?

You must be wondering, so I'll just put the question out there: what _happened_? What made my friends--especially Embry Call, who had been my best friend since we'd been in diapers--all up and ditch at the same time? Let me just briefly address that: I don't KNOW. I have no idea and it's been _killing_ me. I'd run through every plausible scenario. Had I done something wrong? Was I a bad person? Was I a bad friend, did I have any outstandingly bad traits--I'd tortured myself for weeks, afterwards. I had to have something wrong with me, for my friends to leave so fast. I didn't know what it was, but I shut down, as they left, one-by-one, until it was just me and Quil Ateara, the two youngest in our group of friends, standing alone in the lunch room, while I tried not to cry as we passed Jared, Jake, Paul and Embry back at their table with Kim Connweller at their table. We'd been good-ole-fashioned ditched for what we could only assume was some sort of vaguely threatening gang, because Jared, Jake, Paul and Embry frequently sported new scars and new muscles. Quil and I promised that if either and I managed to make it to the other side, we'd let the other in on what the _hell_ was going on. But when Quil joined, three months after Jake, I was left alone, with the determined thought that there must be something wrong with me. So I stopped. No more friends, no more dances or parties--just school. I just had to get out of LaPush, as far from Mom and my ex-friends as possible.

"Rose!" My twin called out after me, and I pulled one headphone out, keeping my face carefully expressionless as I turned to where he'd parked his car. He had a hummer, a gift from Uncle Walter, Mom's little brother, who lived in guilt for leaving us mostly alone with his screwy older sister.

Derrick jogged up to me, looking a little out of breath, and I eyed him nervously: he'd built a lot of muscle, recently, and had gotten about four inches taller in an alarmingly short amount of time, shooting up from what had used to be our shared height of six feet tall. Now I was six feet and he was six four. "Rosie, do you have any Advil in your backpack—I don't wanna go to the nurse, and I think I have a fever." He explained, and I frowned, reaching up to touch Derrick's forehead with my chilled hand. He hesitated, embarrassed at being taken care of, but I ignored how he shifted, just trying to figure out if the kid had a fever.

Derrick was younger than me by twenty seven minutes, but shared my dark hair and even darker skin: we were apparently half Quileute Indian, if you listened to my mother's drunken ramblings, but we looked like we were actually from the subcontinent of India, which our mother's parents were. Mum's parents were just obsessed with being American, and had, when they had their children here, named them Walter (my uncle who paid for most of our day-to-day lives), Shannon (my mother), and Geoffrey (my other uncle who we only really saw or talked to on the major holidays). Mum and Walter had continued that tradition, while Geoffrey had moved on to France and was living there with his wife.

"Jeez, Der, you're burning up." I told him, my eyebrows raising, and he shrugged carelessly. I frowned at him.

"I've got a game today, I can't go home sick." He explained hurriedly, and I rolled my eyes, but swung my bag down in front of me and rifled through the disorganized papers within. Derrick was right to assume I had Advil on me--apparently being a friendless high school senior could cause headaches, because I usually had at least one biggie a day. "Besides, I don't even feel sick or anything, just a little weird is all."

"Here ya go." I said, pressing the bottle into his hand, not caring that I looked like a veritable drug dealer. "Here's a Snapple," I said, offering the drink so he could take pills, but he just swallowed them with no trouble, and I snorted. Derrick liked to show off like that sometimes. Who exactly was he trying to impress, though? "Go to the nurse if you feel too sick, though, okay? You definitely have a fever." Derrick shivered as if to prove my point, and I glanced around. Jared, Quil and Embry, who were all standing by Quil's car, were flat-out staring at Derrick and me. I met Embry's gaze with a piercing glare, and Derrick followed my gaze after a moment and scowled at them, hard, before he stepped between us. "Come on, let's get to homeroom." He muttered darkly, and together we walked towards LaPush High school.

***

"Miss Mehta, are you listening?" Miss Dahl asked me seriously from behind her desk, and I glanced up at her sharply from where I'd been doodling in my notebook. Busted.

"Yes." I lied, praying she wasn't about to counter that with a question.

"Then can you name three organelles that appear in plant cells but not animal cells?" She asked me, and I swallowed, my mind racing. I'd done the homework last night even if I hadn't been paying attention, and it'd been in there.

"Chloroplasts…" I said slowly. "The cell wall. And the Large Central Vacuole." My tongue tripped over the last word—how did you _say_ that, anyway?—but judging by the surprised expression on her face, I'd gotten my point across.

"Right." She said after a moment, before she moved to the next PowerPoint slide that projected onto the wall as the bell rang. "Alright, guys, well the homework's posted online." She said to us as I closed my note-less notebook and shoved it into my bag. I was out of the class before ten seconds had passed, but I stopped in the hallway, surprised by the fact that Embry Call and Quil Ateara were standing there, evidently waiting for me. My heart pounded in my chest nervously as I--literally and a little bit stupidly--glanced around, double checking that Jared, Jake or Paul weren't right around me.

"Rose." Embry began quietly, dashing any prayers I had of getting away from this scot-free. "We need to talk."

"Go away, Embry." I told him after a moment, turning away and walking down the hall, fuming. I didn't care that we'd ever been friends—he'd ditched me and I was _not_ going to be one of those kids who just ran back after they'd been ditched. I was stronger than that.

Or at least I wanted to be.

The truth was, I would have given the world for Embry--yeah, just Embry--to come back to me and tell me that he was sorry. I probably would have melted right then and there, probably would have forgiven him despite the absolute nightmare I'd been living for the past months. But he hadn't so I hadn't had that chance to demean myself yet. It was so sad how much I was willing to give up for just Embry, but had been the first best friend, the one and the only.

"Rosie, I'm sorry," Quil tried softly as he followed me down the hallway. "But it's important. We need your help." This stopped me dead in my tracks, and I wheeled around glaring at the boys I'd once considered closer than Derrick. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I forced myself to remain rigid and angry, because they deserved nothing less.

"You ignored me all summer and most of last year, and now you want my help?" I asked, my eyes narrowed, and Embry hesitated before nodding once, and I snorted in sarcastic laughter. "You're actually retarded, I hope you know that." I told them quietly. "Go find some other more gullible girl to dupe into being friends with use her until you're done. I'm out." I pulled away and turned around, feeling proud of myself. That had been good—just cold and angry, not sad or teary. That was what they deserved. I had to remind myself of that as I felt Embry's eyes follow me down the hallway. Embry, God. It still hurt to think about him.

I stormed past my locker and my brother, ignoring the irritated look Derrick threw me as I passed him. Jake Black caught my eye as I passed him and he slammed his locker door shut, falling into step beside me. "It's about your brother." He said quietly. "Derrick's about to—change, Rosie. He's going to need our help, and we need to talk to him, but he won't unless you tell him not to kill us. He's... too protective of you to talk to us." I stopped, in the middle of the hall, searching Jake's face for any information on what was going on. Jake was almost as famous as Paul for wearing his heart on his sleeve, but more nicely. "So you're going to tell him we can help."

"That sounds like strangely veiled threat, Jacob." I kept my voice cold. "And I don't care. There can't possibly be something that's about to hurt Derrick that no one else on the planet can help him with." Jared looked mildly apprehensive, but I just scowled. "Nope, Jake, I don't believe it. Good for Derrick for standing up for me." I turned away to move away, and Jake caught my arm.

"He might put you in danger." Jake said softly, looking deeply, deeply concerned. I felt my own expression soften. He obviously cared. Still... "And you're still a friend. I don't want you to get hurt." Okay, wrong-o there, Jakey boy.

"Guess you shouldn't have spent the better part of the last year ignoring me, then, huh?" I said sarcastically, jerking out of his grip. I was scared of how intense Jake, Quil and Embry were being, how _concerned_ they seemed, but I knew Derrick. My brother would never hurt me. That was absurd.

I got into the parking lot, for once grateful of the cold and how it stopped Jacob from following me.


	2. In Which Derrick Contracts Mono

Chapter 2: In Which Derrick Contracts "Mono"

I flipped listlessly through my AP French book that night, waiting for Derrick to come home. I didn't have any homework, not really—just the first few pages, and I liked French enough that it hadn't taken me very long. I just needed something to take my mind off what had gone on at school today.

Derrick would never put me in danger, but for some reason, Jake, Embry and Quil were so sure of this that they were willing to talk to me about it. Jake, Quil and Embry (especially _Embry_) were able to _talk_ to me.

But Derrick _would never put me in danger_. That was just sort of a law of nature I'd come to accept, like the presence of gravity: Derrick was sort of protective of me—not excessively, but he always made sure I was okay. Our noticeable lack of father and our crazy mother had led us, a while back, to realize that it was us against the world. The normal sibling rivalry sort of fell by the wayside when your mother was a veritable lunatic.

Suddenly my phone rang, and I started, the ring scaring me. I shook my head a little and put down my book, dragging myself from the couch to the kitchen, and I grabbed my phone from the countertop just as the ringing stopped.

"Shit." I mumbled, and I brought the phone back with me to the couch as I flipped through my recent calls, looking for who had called. Derrick. He was probably calling to tell me that he was going to be late coming home—he already was, but Derrick wasn't exactly a punctual person.

I saw the voicemail was already recording, so I sank back onto the couch, kicking my feet up over the arm as I waited for it to stop recording. My phone chimed a minute later, and I wrapped my arms around myself as I pressed play and lifted the phone to my ear.

"Derrick, come on, man, you're okay." Jake's voice was saying, and I frowned, swallowing. I heard something growl, and my heart started to pound—what the hell was going on? A wolf howled somewhere close to Derrick's phone.

"Derrick!" Embry said loudly, and I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the cushioning. Then I heard a wolf whine softly, and the message abruptly ended. It had been a very confusing seven seconds.

The door to my house opened and I hoped, for just a moment, that Derrick was home, but it just turned out to be my mother in one of my dresses and three inch high heels. She grinned at me and came to sit down on the edge of the couch. "Hey baby." She said cheerfully, and I forced a smile. How long would her manic faze last? It'd only been a few days, but Mom's manic phases had no set time period. "I just met the _nicest_ man." She gushed, and I tried not to comment on the alcohol I smelled on her breath or the way she smelled like cigarettes.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. I treated her like a little kid, entertaining her, playing along, but how could I not when every few months it literally took me holding her up in the shower to get her to not lay in bed all day.

"Mm-hmm." She said. "I'm going back out in a few minutes, so we can meet at that bar, the one in Forks?" It was so sad that there was only one bar in Forks, but it was true. Forks was smaller than LaPush, and a hell of a lot less interesting: at least we had a history. Forks was, like, 4,000 people who liked the rainiest place on earth. "You don't mind, do you?"

_Yes, Mom. It's weird you're going at 11 PM to meet some guy you met tonight at a bar and probably won't be home until tomorrow afternoon_. That was what I thought. But because I hated to burst my mother's bipolar-disorder-induced bubble, this is what I said: "Oh, nah. I'm just waiting up for Derrick."

"Where _is_ Derrick?" She asked me, suddenly looking around. I decided immediately not to mention the unusual voicemail, mostly because I had no idea how I'd explain it, and instead glanced up at her with a smile.

"Hockey Game." She nodded, already distracted as she stood up and smoothed down her too-short dress.

"Okay, well g'night sweetheart." She said with a broad smile, wiggling her fingers at me, and I forced a smile back. God, I was forcing so many smiles, I was going to forget what it was like to want to smile soon. She slipped out the door, grabbing car keys from the bowl on the table, and I sighed, closing my eyes. It was tiring to fake it for my mom when she was manic, mostly because I had to keep pushing myself to the conclusion that she didn't care. That this disorder wasn't all gone—just because her manic phases meant she made chocolate chip pancakes on Saturdays and called her brothers just to say hi and had a boyfriend (or several) didn't mean she was cured. When I was younger, I'd gain that kind of perverse hope that everything was okay, in her manic phase. Now I knew better. It was a façade, disorder-induced.

I realized I was falling asleep on the couch and I dragged myself up the stairs, falling into my bed gratefully. I was asleep seconds after my head hit the pillow.

***

I woke up the following morning, having kicked off the covers at some point the previous night. I glanced at the clock—6:39—and laid there for a few more minutes, letting it not become an Olympic feat to open my eyes. I rolled out of bed and stumbled first into my mother's bedroom, checking that she wasn't there: she wasn't, which I considered a good thing, I supposed. Meant her date had gone well, at least, and I'd expected it, which made it easier. At least knowing what to expect made her sort of like a normal mom.

Next I opened the door to Derrick's room, prepared to wake him up for school, and I turned on the light—_and he wasn't there_. His bed was made, his floor unlittered by clothing, his drawers all shut and his desk chair neatly under the desk. His school bag wasn't there.

Derrick had never made it home last night.

I leaned against the door jamb, trying not to panic. Derrick was a teenager—he was entitled to a little freedom. Maybe he'd called me, told me he was going to sleepover at a friend's house? I slipped back into my room and pulled my phone out of the charger: no missed calls, no missed texts. I frowned, dialing his number. 1 ring, 2 rings, 3 rings— "Hi, you've reached Derrick Mehta, leave a name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Derrick's voicemail sounded so mature, but I just snapped my phone shut, exhaling heavily.

I was worried about Der.

I wanted to call Embry, maybe Jared and Jake, and ask them about the voicemail and my brother. But I was also his sister—and to boot, his _friendless_ sister, so I needed to make sure I wasn't being clingy and weird. And I didn't want to come off that way to Embry, Jared or Jake either. Especially not Embry. Derrick was a big boy, too: he could handle himself, and it wasn't like I was his keeper. He could sleepover at a friend's house without telling me.

But Derrick didn't do this. He didn't not come home, he didn't not tell someone. Because he knew that I didn't have friends and that I worried about him and that it was us against the world. I glanced at the clock, and ten minutes had passed. I pursed my lips: still a little early to call anyone.

I plugged my phone back into the charger and slank into my bathroom. I would shower and decide after: nice, warm showers helped wake me up, and I was uncomfortable with being worried about Derrick. I didn't usually have to worry about him.

Thirty minutes later, a shower and blow-dry later, I stared back down at my cell phone, wondering if I should call. I didn't want to call Embry. But that was a stupid reason to not act on my concern about my brother. Stupid, and a little selfish.

But I _really_ didn't want to call Embry.

I'd just see if he was in school, then. He would be in school.

***

He wasn't in school.

I waited until ten minutes before first class, standing at our lockers, my heart pounding in my throat. Where was my brother? He wasn't exactly punctual but he took school seriously. He wanted to go to Boston College for Ice Hockey and that was a pretty good school. You needed pretty good grades for that.

I swallowed my nervousness and walked slowly to where Jared, Jake, Embry, Quil and Paul were standing around Jake's locker. I swallowed again as I got within five feet, before I finally reached them, and all of them looked at me. I lifted my head, looking straight at Embry, knowing that he'd be the first to cave, if he had any information. "Where's Derrick?" I demanded in a low voice, and Embry shrugged casually.

"I dunno." He said dully. "He won't talk to me." I glared at him now. He knew why Derrick didn't talk to them anymore. Why was he going back to be really rude, anyway? Hadn't he been all concerned, yesterday?

"I got a weird call from him last night." I said quietly, glancing around at the boys who used to be my best friends, trying to ignore how I felt a lump forming in my throat. "You three," I pointed out Jake, Jared and Embry, "Were on it. And there was a _wolf_." I glanced reproachfully around at my ex-friends. "And Derrick, he didn't come home last night." _I'm worried_. If I'd pointed that out, I would have bet that Embry would have answered me honestly, or at least gotten closer to the truth. But I couldn't be pathetic and pitiful.

"I heard he had mono." Quil commented idly. I didn't miss the nervous expression that flitted over Jake's face, though, before it went back to careless.

"Nope." I responded easily, turning my angry expression on him. Quil glanced away, his expression softening for a moment before hand. I glared at Jared, next, who was watching me quietly, leaning against the lockers.

"Okay, you're too annoying. Go away." Paul ordered, his voice acidic, and I scowled at him, the lump in my throat rising. This wasn't going well, I had to get out of here.

"Just tell him to call me, asshole." I responded after a second, and I turned away, hitching my bag higher on my shoulder as I walked away. I turned the corner and, making sure I was far out of sight, I took off towards the girl's bathroom, barricading myself in one of the stalls as I sank down against the wall of the stall. Tears cascaded down my face as I pressed my hands over my face.

Where was Derrick? My twin brother was _missing_ for all intensive purposes but I couldn't file a police report because Mom was _crazy_ and Derrick and I were seventeen until April 2, which meant we'd go to live with Uncle Walt if the police ever figured out Mom was crazy. My stupid ex-best friends were being _idiots_ about it because they knew something and weren't telling me for god _knows_ what reason. Didn't they realize that this had _nothing_ to do with torturing me, as they seemed so intent on doing? That this was _freaking_ serious?

I gave myself a good minute of sobbing like a three-year-old having a tantrum before I unlocked the stall, going to the sinks and splashing water on my face. I exhaled heavily and looked at myself in the mirror, wondering what the next step was. I needed to tell school that Derrick was out sick.

I ducked my head as I walked into the hall, trying to hide my swollen red eyes, which had been helped minutely by the cold water. I passed Embry and Jared, though, in the hallway, and accidentally met Embry's gaze. Embry's face crumpled, for a moment, as I saw it dawn on him how upset I was, but I passed him without a word. He was a jerk, he sucked—he didn't care. I had to remind myself, or else think about how sympathetic he looked in the brief second I'd just passed him in the hall.

I took a minute in front of the secretary's office before I slipped inside, a polite smile on my face.

"Hi, I'm Rose Mehta. I just wanted to let you know," I began, and the secretary smiled politely back at me. "That my brother, Derrick Mehta—"

"Has Mononucleosis." The woman finished kindly, looking sympathetic. "Your father just got off the phone with me." She smiled. "I've sent an e-mail to all his teachers—I hope it's alright for you to take his work to him." I nodded mutely, before I forced a half-smile and close the door behind me, waiting until the door was all the way shut before I let my expression fade to surprise.

Okay. Alarms going off in my head—you may wonder why. Here you go: I do not _have_ a father. I assumed that there was in fact a man involved in the creation of Derrick and me, but he was not a presence in my life. I did not know his name. He hadn't stuck around long enough after Mom told him she was pregnant to see Derrick's and my birth, as I understood it. He would not know if Derrick had cancer, much less Mono.

And Quil had said Derrick had Mono.

Someone—probably Jared, Jake, Quil, Embry or Paul—had faked being my father to tell the school that Derrick had Mono. This was a big conspiracy type thing, though I couldn't _for the life of me_ figure out _why_. What was Derrick _doing_ while he had "mono"?

And why couldn't he freaking _tell_ me?


	3. In Which Everything Changes

Chapter 3

The next day, Derrick still wasn't at school.

And my frustration with him had faded to serious, hard-core concern. He was missing school with no signs of stopping, and that was not good your senior year, at least not until spring semester. His homework was piling up and my lack of social life had forced me to consider perhaps doing some of it, but I wasn't _that_ good a sister. And I felt that the million pounds' worth of homework would be a good punishment for going away without telling me why.

Now. Having a diagnosed, dysfunctional, un-medicated mother and screwy other family members who tried to make up for it with weird gifts did not make me the most emotionally mature person out there. So all this serious concern transferred itself into serious _anger_. Anger at Embry.

After school, I dragged myself home, though, because Embry and Jared hadn't come to school, so I couldn't yell at him. They were probably off somewhere with Derrick. God, I hoped they were off somewhere with Derrick. That meant he was okay and being social, even if he was ignoring me and hanging out with my ex-best friends. He would be okay.

My house was empty, my mother gone with a note on the refrigerator, which I supposed I should be thankful for, but I was too worried about Derrick. I'd called his cell phone a hundred times, texted him over and over. But Derrick's phone was no longer on, because his calls went straight to voice mail, and I needed to hear from him or risk my sanity.

I stood in my kitchen, feeling lost for a second, before I pulled my phone out, my fear getting to me. My brother was missing, my insane mother was manic and waltzing around with whichever guy it was today, and I had no social life. There was nothing to lose.

This also reminded me, alarmingly, of what had happened with Embry and Jake and company. Embry had disappeared from school for two weeks (!) and when he'd returned, we were no longer friends, though no one had bothered to inform me. And I was so, so sorry I'd lost Embry and company as friends. And maybe I should have acted, maybe I should have fought for them against whatever the hell twisted gang-type thing that Sam Uley had sucked them into. I loved Embry especially: he'd been my best friend, end of story. But I'd lost that battle, already. I could probably save Derrick, though. Even if it meant going up against Embry.

I dumped my bag onto the kitchen counter and, after fishing out my wallet and disconnecting my car keys from my beltloop, I jogged out to my car, dumping my wallet and cell phone in the passenger seat and slamming my keys in the ignition. I remembered the way to Embry's, and I would have bet he was there—his house was always the best stocked with junk food, which went a long way with teenage boys.

I took off towards Embry's house, turning the corner sharply and following the roads I remembered like the back of my hand. I could bike this path, and had, until Embry, who was a few months older than me, had taught me to drive. God, I missed being friends with him.

I pulled into his driveway, taking a deep breath as I stared out the windshield at the one-car garage, which was open and jam-packed with stuff. I swallowed, hard, as I slipped out of the car, and slammed the door shut behind me. I walked quickly to the door, my long legs covering the space easily. I knocked on the door twice, then waited, crossing my arms over my chest nervously. I was so angry--about so, _so_ much--but I was just reaming Embry out on what had happened to Derrick.

"Hi." Embry said shortly, opening his door a crack and fitting his body there easily. "Not a great time, Ro." He was pulling on a shirt, and I tried not to mock him as his head got stuck: he hadn't unbuttoned the buttons. Only friends poked fun at one another and we were _not_ friends.

"I don't care about your schedule." I hissed at him. "But my brother has officially been my definition of _missing_ for the last two days and you _know_ something! It doesn't matter that you obviously think I'm some whiny little brat--if Derrick's in trouble, I get to know."

"He's not some little kid, Rose! He can do whatever the hell he wants--" Embry muttered from inside his shirt.

"I am scared out of my _fucking_ mind, Embry Call! My brother _disappeared_ two days ago and my jackass ex-bestfriends know something and won't tell me and I'm left to create stupid possibilities! I've called his cell phone a hundred times, texted him--I am _scared_, Em. I don't care that it's freaking embarrassing or shit! This isn't about your or me or anyone but Derrick!" I'd finally admitted it, and Embry finally got his shirt on (the retard). He stared at me for a solid minute of silence, his gaze so serious and... caring, that it scared me. He tilted his head to the side a little bit, opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it. He hesitated again, a tanned hand rising to run through his dark hair. Embry Call was looking genuinely worried about me. Maybe this meant I'd finally get some answers, even if all my dignity was officially out the window. My dignity was nothing, not when my brother was part of this bargaining process."

"Rose..." My name in his voice killed me. How long had it been since he'd sounded that sincere? I stared up at him, feeling my unwilling eyes fill with tears, and I pulled away. "Rose, I'm sorry, I really want to tell you." My heart shattered, for the second time, because of Embry Call. "I can't, though." He exhaled slowly. "God, I want to tell you so bad, Rosie." I winced at the use of my nickname, running my own hand through my own mane of hair, angry. Embry reached towards me but I swatted his hand away, not paying attention to how incredibly saddened he looked at my action. Embry suddenly looked so much more intensely scared and hurt now--more so than he'd ever looked before. What button had I finally found to push?

"We were _best_ friends, Embry, and you can't spare me a _fucking_ second to tell me what's wrong with my brother?!" I demanded, practically whispering now. Embry looked absolutely heartbroken, and suddenly the door swung open to reveal a _very_ angry looking college-aged kid. I vaguely recognized him: I thought he was Sam Uley, who was leading their little gang of whatever-the-hell this was.

"I don't know who you are, but go away." He told me flatly. Embry didn't protest, but sort of shrunk a little bit, hanging his head, and I blinked away tears.

"I deserve so much more than to be told to go away by a total stranger." I told Embry, turning away. I jumped into my car and reversed harshly out, running over some of the lawn's perfectly mowed grass as I tore away from the house. I ignored Embry's broken figure, still standing in the doorway of his house. Sam Uley was talking to him animatedly, but I just willed myself to keep driving. I was braver than this, I did _not_ fall apart at boys being stupid.

The tears finally broke through the barrier as I pulled into my driveway, pulling up the twisting thing and right before the garage door before the tears made it too hard to see. What was wrong with Embry? Didn't ten years of friendship and the following _ditch_ give me rights to ask what the _hell_ was up with my brother and get an answer? Didn't sheer humanity allow me that right?

I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel, my tall frame shrinking easily as I shook with my sobs. I was doing this too often, nowadays, but everything was falling apart as I got so close to getting the hell away. Mom was still crazy and unreliable, Embry had somehow wormed his way back onto my radar (forcing me to consider whether he'd ever really left), and Derrick--my reliable, stone-steady partner-in-crime--was _missing_.

I swallowed down the self-pity spilling over me and mopped at my eyes with the sleeves of my sweatshirt. Mom had always been crazy, I reminded myself. And Embry had always been on my radar, I was just Queen of Denial. My biggest issue was that Derrick was missing and I was trying my hardest for him, doing my best. I was surviving. My head was still above the water.

Sorta.

At the very least, I hadn't drowned yet. So I sucked it up and let myself hiccup into silence before I pulled the keys out of my car and ducked my head, walking towards my house. And just as I reached the front steps, the one thing I would have paid a billion dollars not to happen, happened. Mom opened the door, a huge smile on her face.

"Hi Rosie, where've ya been?" She sounded bouncier than any high school cheerleader, and I was much too tired to deal with this.

"Embry's." I informed her honestly, my voice clipped and short. Had she been any kind of mother, she might have caught on to how much I _did not_ want to talk. How red my face was, how freaking obvious it was that I'd been crying. How Embry and I were so past the meaning of _not friends_ that I sometimes wondered if we deserved our own word. But she was bipolar and selfish and couldn't help it. She didn't get it.

"I am so glad you two are so close." She said, and the lump in my throat cropped up again, even as I dropped my school bag by the door and stalked into the kitchen. "How is his mother?"

"Better than you." I muttered under my breath, not really intending for her to hear it, but I was so worn out. I was exhausted, I couldn't play the good daughter who played along with her brother's faux-disappearance and her mother's mental illness--not all the time.

"What'd you say?" Mom asked, her voice suddenly too loud. I was too tired, she was too loud, and I was too worried about Embry/Jared/Jake/Derrick/Quil/Paul.

"I said that Embry's Mom was doing better than you." I informed her, turning around to face her. God. What was wrong with me? She was insane, and in her manic phase. The chorus of symptoms of the manic phase ran through my head, the paperwork that Uncle Walt had stared down at, distraught, while Derrick and I sat in the Social Services office in Port Angeles, drawing. Mom's first freak out, she'd been twenty-six-years-old, which is a little bit older than usually diagnosed, but Derrick and I had been four. Walt had had custody for a few months while Mom was in the hospital, put on meds, and got out and learned to reassimilate to real life. We were seven before a judge let Walt sign custody of us over to Mom again.

Her meds had lasted another year or so, and it'd been a good one. And then she'd run out--and realized how much "better" she felt.

"Embry's Mom has her own problems." Mom said harshly.

"At least she's got her whole brain on her side. You've got a screwy one that you refuse to take drugs to fix." I shot back, and Mom reacted immediately: she slammed forwards, smashing into me and slapping me, simultaneously shoving me back, hard, with her other hand. Mom was deceptively strong, because I crashed backwards into the counter, and my ribs took a solid hit: I coughed out a cry of pain as Mom stared at me, breathing hard. I braced myself against the counter top, breathing shallowly as the pain in my ribs constricted my veins. My face was burning from the slap, and I hesitated for only a minute before I tried to rush past her: she grabbed my arm, forcing me to spin around. We stared at each other in silence once more before she slowly released me. I felt tears beginning again as I turned around and ran out the front door, thankful for the keys-on-beltloop thing I already had.

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed frantically, tears pouring down my face. I didn't even bother with Derrick: Embry's number appeared on my screen even as I sobbed, gasping for air.

"Rose?" Embry asked, already sounding slightly on the alert. I jammed my car keys in my car, my hand shaking. I slammed the car door shut and locked the doors. I realized, suddenly, I was scared out of my mind, mostly about the fact that my mother might just attack me again.

"Em--oh, God. Em, can I come over, I'm sorry I know I just yelled at you but I..." I sobbed, hard.

"Jesus, Rose. What the hell happened?" Embry asked, panicking already. "Are you okay?"

"Mom _flipped_ out, Em, and I know it was my fault, and I shouldn't have said what I said, but I was angry and I'm--" I coughed.

"Okay, Rosie, where are you?" Embry asked me quickly.

"Just, away. I'm driving, I guess towards your house but if I can't come over-- I mean, if I--" I was just mumbling, whatever words that managed to stumble into my brain coming out of my mouth.

"Good. Come over--shut _up_, Paul." Embry's voice suddenly turned vicious as he talked to Paul, somewhere behind them. "It's Rose." I sobbed softly, tears pouring down my face still as I sped onto Embry's street and forced myself to slow down. I turned into his driveway and pulled my keys out of the car, opening the door and stumbling out. Embry's front door tore open and he stood there, the dimming light making him seem even bigger.

"Christ, Rosie, what happened?" He asked me as I limped towards him, pressing my hand to my ribs, and he rushed forwards. "Who _slapped_ you?" He asked, sounding suddenly irate, and Jared appeared in the doorway. "Rose?" Embry hesitated before putting an arm around my shoulders, and I turned my face into his chest, tears wetting his shirt. "Jesus, Rose." He murmured, wrapping his other arm around me.

"I shouldn't have said it." I sobbed into his chest. "I shouldn't have. But I'm so worried about Derrick and my mother is legitimately, diagnosed insane and I..." I winced in pain at how much my ribs hurt, and Embry released me, frowning down at me. He looked distraught, maybe worse than I was. "But she shouldn't have _hit_ me. Moms don't...they're not..." I sobbed again, and Embry smoothed my hair out of my face.

"Okay, Ro. Come inside, you need to sit down and take a breather." He murmured to me, walking me inside. I was gasping for breath, now, and he led me to the couch. Jared and Quil followed us quietly, sinking down in other chairs, and Paul stood in the doorway. They were all watching me, and I struggled to slow my breath. Embry sank down in front of me, crouching before me. "Rose. Can you breathe?" He sounded like he was trying to suppress panic, and I nodded, and my breathing did begin to ease.

"Just screwed up my ribs, I'm okay." I mumbled. "Embry, God, I'm so sorry for calling you like this..." I was embarrassed now that I'd recovered enough to talk. "God. After I yelled at you about... I'm sorry. I know you would tell me if... If something was wrong with Derrick, we might not really be friends but I trust you to tell me stuff like that. I should have trusted you." I glanced up at him, and Embry closed his eyes.

"It's no big." He murmured. "Okay, Rosie, I'm gonna..." Embry fell silent, his chin falling to his chest in defeat when he heard a door open. My brother, in a pair of PJs I knew were Embry's, came out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes. He stopped dead in the doorway, though.

"Rose." Derrick said slowly. Then the process of understanding dawned on him. I had a red handprint on my face, I knew, and I was holding my ribs. "Who hit my sister?"

"I think the real question is why you were missing for the last forty eight hours." I responded quietly, not accusatory at all. "And what the hell's been going on."


	4. In Which I Take 2 Steps Forward

Chapter 4

Derrick glanced nervously at Embry, who looked at Jared, who shrugged. Quil just kicked his feet up on the coffee table while Paul stared me down: I decided to take on the most challenging, turning my gaze to him. We stared at each other until he glanced away, and I smirked, sitting back, before I gasped softly in pain, pressing my hand to my ribs.

"What happened?" Derrick asked me, suddenly sounding urgent. I blushed, embarrassed, and looked away. Embry put his hand on my knee and Derrick's gaze flicked to him angrily, and I decided to speak up before Derrick misdirected his frustration at my maybe-renewed ex-best friend.

"She's manic, Derrick." Mom's bipolar cycle was about four months—she'd go manic, then slowly slip into depressive, then get more alive until the cycle started over at manic. Derrick obviously wasn't particularly good at keeping track of the cycle. I kept a calendar and every year, when I bought a new one, I highlighted the days that I knew she would be worst, the two or so weeks at the peak of phases. It wasn't a perfect system, but it gave me enough warning, let me save up my patience. Let me once more play at having a normal mother, one who was sort of predictable.

"_Mom_ did this to you?" Derrick asked, pissed off. "What the hell happened? She's not violent, that's the entire reason the courts didn't flip a shit when Walt…"Derrick drifted off: I knew the rest of the story, and no one else did.

"I was rude." I admitted. "But, in my defense, nothing I said wasn't true." Derrick frowned.

"I don't care what you said to set her off—there's nothing you could have said to justify her doing this." Derrick said, looking angrier by the second. Paul traded looks with Jared and moved forward from his spot in the doorway. He shoved Derrick gently but firmly backwards, dragging him towards the front door. Derrick glanced at him, and Paul just half-shrugged, walking Derrick out of the house.

"We're getting some air." Paul called over his shoulder, and I frowned. Way to be weird, Derrick and Paul. Congrats on making me feel awkward.

We sat in silence, Embry, Jared and Quil trading significant glances I didn't understand while I struggled to interpret them. "Hey, Ro, we should go see a doctor." Embry murmured finally, after I wheeze a little. "I don't know why I didn't make you go a few minutes ago, come on." He sat back on his ankles, though, as I remained seated.

"First we talk." I conditioned. Embry stiffened, glancing at Jared, who once again, looked sort of irritated for being turned to again. He shrugged helplessly and Embry rolled his eyes while Quil tilted his head to the side, his eyes on me, narrowed. "Come on, Em. I get a mini-explanation, at the very least."

"We can't." Quil murmured from his chair, looking incredibly tired. I watched him, feeling a little sympathetic towards him. I remembered how scared he'd been when Jake finally ditched, how he'd stayed strong with me until the end where he got "sick" for two weeks, than came back and ditched too. But I knew he'd once been me.

"I think I can." Embry murmured, his head bowed once more, and I saw Jared and Quil glance sharply at him. Quil looked hopeful while Jared was warning Embry, fiercely, with his expression, to _shut up_. It'd been a while since I'd been friends with these guys but they still wore their hearts on their sleeves.

"Then spill." I suggested quietly, and Embry stood up, offering his hand as help up.

"Doctor." He said firmly. "We can talk on the way there." I grabbed his hand and he carefully pulled me to my feet, wincing with me as I pulled my ribs. Embry didn't hesitate as he put one arm under my knees and another under my shoulders and _lifted me up_.

"Em!" I squeaked, my hands grabbing his shirt, and he cracked half a smile, still looking unbelievably tense. "Embry, I can _walk_…"

"Jared, come with to the—to Carlisle's." Embry ordered, and Jared bristled, his shoulders rising as he glared at Embry.

"I'm technically superior to you." He growled under his breath. Embry rounded on him and the world spun: I turned my face, almost unwillingly, into Embry's shoulder, and he paused. "Rose?" Jared asked softly, his voice kinder now, and I turned my face to him.

"Just dizzy." I said quietly. "Em, let me _down_ I'm not an invalid." My exasperation showed in my voice, but Embry ignored me, walking into the front yard and sitting me in the backseat before he got in the passenger seat. I caught sight of his expression as he turned away—he looked _distraught_. "Hey, Embry." I said, letting my voice sound actually kind in his presence for the first time in a long time, and he glanced at me. I caught his hand, squeezing it a little. "It's okay."

"Your mother _attacked_ you, Rosie." Embry hissed back at me. "That's _abuse_ and I know you've told me a hundred times—every time I got scared for you—that she _wasn't violent_. She was crazy, but she didn't hurt you, and—" Embry cut himself off, and I released his hand. "She hurt you." I shrugged uncomfortably, and Embry slammed the car door shut, and I heard a wolf howl, close by. I wrapped my arms around myself unhappily, glancing around.

"So what actually happened?" Jared asked me quietly as Embry sank into the front seat. Jared stepped on the gas pedal easily. "I know you said something that set her off…"

"She asked me how Embry's mom was doing." I said tiredly, trying not to notice that Embry stiffened. "And I said better than her, and she said your mom had problems of their own and I said at least she had an entire functioning brain and that… that did not go over well." I explained, meeting Jared's gaze in the rearview mirror. "Yeah, I'm an idiot. I know."

"It wasn't nice—but it wasn't worth hurting you." Jared said quietly back, and Embry crossed his arms across his chest angrily. Jared glanced at him even as we turned onto the darkening main road, and I waited for the words I knew would be coming.

"Has it happened before?" Embry asked, his voice hoarse, and I sat forward in the seat, ignoring the pain in my ribs to reach forward and rub his upper arm tenderly. Embry jerked out of my reach, turning frantically and grabbing my hand. "Rose." He said quickly. "I absolutely have to know. Has this happened before?"

"No." I told Embry intensely. "I'm not the type of girl to get abused and _tolerate_ it, Embry."

"That wouldn't be something to be ashamed of." Jared told me quietly, and I nodded hurriedly, waving my hand.

"I know that, Jare," I assured him. "But I'm not being abused. This was just—look, she's actually insane." I mumbled. "She doesn't take her medicine and sometimes she gets a little harder to handle than normal, but she's not a mean person!"

"How can you defend her?" Embry exploded, turning around again. "She _hurts_ you, Rosie, and she doesn't take good of you and the nights when she's not there are the _good_ nights!" My heart was pounding, I was so angry and upset and sad—I couldn't handle Embry yelling at me too.

"She's my _mother_!" I shouted at him as Jared took a sharp turn, and I was thrown to the side. I cried out in pain as my ribs clipped the door of the car, and Embry shoved Jared a little bit as he reached back to me, clambering over the divider in the front seats and into the backseat to pull me closer to him, all the anger fading immediately.

"God, Jared, you're such a _fucking bad driver_." Embry yelled angrily as he pulled me half-way onto his lap, his warm arms encircling me protectively. He hugged me to his chest, tucking my head under his chin, and I closed my eyes, relishing the feeling of being safe and on Embry's side of an argument. Jared _was_ a sucky driver.

And Embry was really, really warm.

Like, burning up with a fever, warm. I didn't mention it, though, as Jared slammed on the breaks: his sharp turn had been up a driveway, I now realized, because we were in front of a house. Embry lifted me effortlessly again as Jared opened the car door and I grabbed Embry's upper arm as we got out of the car, looking up at him. "I can stand, Em." My voice was soft, but it obviously convinced him, as he put me down and kept his arm around my waist. Two men stepped onto the porch of the house as I looked up, and Embry pulled me closer to him, his protective gaze on the teenage boy and the man.

"This is Carlisle and Edward Cullen." Embry murmured in my ear. "Carlisle's a doctor, he's really popular on the reservation." I nodded once, frowning at Jared, whose gaze was solemnly on Carlisle and Edward. He seemed almost frightened—Jared Gentry, _frightened_, was a weird idea—but he shifted in front of me as well.

"A girl on the reservation got hurt." Jared offered, his voice quiet. "We just thought it'd be easier to come to you than go to the hospital." I knew why they'd brought me here, not the hospital—the hospital did not care that she was crazy, that it wasn't really her fault. That I was _months_ away from being allowed to live with whoever I wanted, crazy or not. They would call Walter and hand over custody faster than I could ask them to hold on a second.

"Of course, I'm always happy to help." Carlisle said softly after a moment, opening the door to his house with a warm smile. He was incredibly handsome, but there was something very glossed-over seeming about him—not fake, or superficial, because he was definitely very warm, but glossed-over.

"How was she hurt?" Edward asked, and his voice sounded like steel—it was that cold. Embry felt me shiver and led me up the steps into the house, and I ducked my head as I passed Edward.

"You already know," Jared told Edward. "Don't play us." Edward smirked, turning his gaze to me, and I looked at him searchingly. How did he already know, if the guys hadn't told him?

"Jare." Embry said quietly, his voice a warning. "She and her mom got in a fight." He said softly, and I glanced frantically up at Embry. "They won't call social services." Embry said, his voice tense, looking down at me.

"You're sure enough to bet Derrick and I moving to Atlanta?" I demanded nervously, and Embry winced at the suggestion, pulling me more tightly against him, and I sighed. Uncle Walter lived in Atlanta, and we would too, if Mom got called out on her illness.

"We won't call." Edward assured me quietly, and I nodded once, with a half-smile. He, too, was incredibly handsome—astoundingly so. But Jared obviously didn't like him, which counted for something in my book: Jared had been a good friend until he wasn't. He had good judgment.

Embry led me further inside, and we walked into a large, open kitchen, where Embry picked me up and sat me on the countertop, keeping a hand on the small of my back. Jared sat on the other side of me, on the countertop, and I tried to ignore how protective they were both being. But when Jared bristled as Carlisle entered the kitchen with a black doctor's bag, I smacked his arm.

"They're _helping_ me." I stressed in a whisper to Jared, who just rolled his shoulders and looked away. "Be nice." I threw a vague smile in Carlisle's general direction—what was wrong with the boys?

Edward was watching, looking thoroughly amused, from the doorway, and I just looked away again as Embry shifted uncomfortably. Embry and Jared _really didn't like_ these people. Then why had they brought me to them? I was by no means dying from lack of medical advice. I could have used some ice for my ribs, but I could do that at home or Embry's or wherever.

"So she slapped you, I take it." Carlisle inquired softly, and I blushed, nodding once.

"She's sick." I didn't elaborate, but Edward's posture changed from amused to irritated as he fixed Embry with a hard stare.

"Embry, a word?" Edward asked quietly, and Embry shook his head, not looking at Edward.

"I'm gonna stay with Rose." Embry said, and I glanced at Jared, who was glaring emphatically at Edward. What was _going on_?

"Anywhere else?" Carlisle asked.

"My ribs, I banged them on my countertop at home—I think they're—" I closed my eyes in pain as he reached to where I'd gestured and pressed gently, and Embry's warm hand settled on my head, smoothing down my hair. Had the last hour or so really changed our dynamic so much that he felt okay doing that?

"May I lift your shirt—just up to your bra, not farther?" Carlisle asked me, sounding concerned. "And I am sorry, I wasn't under the impression they were so badly hurt." He said, and I forced my eyes open and smiled tightly.

"Yeah sure." I agreed, trying to sound careless, like this didn't really ache this badly. Carlisle lifted the bottom of my shirt, pushing back the open flaps of my sweatshirt, and Embry cursed under his breath.

"You broke two, maybe three ribs," Carlisle said, sounding appalled, and I winced, glancing down. My skin was bumpy and gross-looking—aside from that, it was pink, red and purple because of the blood gathering under the skin. "Rose…"

"I just need to wrap it and ice it, right?" I asked, and Carlisle looked at me doubtfully.

"We won't call the police without your permission but the police chief is practically family, he'd take care of this, get your mother the helps she needs." Carlisle offered.

"No." I said sharply, keeping my expression blank. "I'm seventeen, in a few months I'll be all set and I can get an apartment with my brother, we'll be okay." I protested—I had no intention of doing this, but Carlisle was a nice guy who didn't have a bipolar mother. He didn't get that I had to ride it out—all of it. She was my mother.

Carlisle hesitated, then nodded, reaching into his bag and getting out some gauze and wrapping it tightly around my stomach and up to my bra: I kept my expression stony, and as he taped it down, I shoved down my shirt. Embry was practically _shaking_ beside me, and I reached up, frowning a little as I touched his forehead—I had thought he was too warm earlier. And as soon as I touched his forehead, I recognized the feeling—Derrick's forehead had been this warm the first day of school.

"You have a fever." I said lowly to him, and he met my gaze, and I blinked: his eyes were filled with such intense anger that I leaned back an inch subconsciously. "Em?"

"Move." Jared ordered loudly, grabbing my arm and pulling me off the counter: I winced at the pain in my ribs as he dragged me behind the island, and then darted back to Embry, grabbing his arm and pulling him down the hallway at a dead sprint. I followed, unsure of what was going on. Was Jared going to take Embry to the hospital, or something?

As soon as Embry hit the front lawn, he shook harder and his clothes ripped as he grew, and fur emerged from his skin. I screamed shortly, stumbling back against the wall of house as my ex-best friend _turned into a freaking massive wolf_. Jared followed suit, and I gasped for breath.

I've asked this too many times, now, but here it goes again:

What the _hell_ was going on?


	5. In Which Embry Answers A Question

Chapter 8

"Holy _jesus_ almighty." I murmured to myself as I stared up at the _freaking_ giant wolf in the Cullen's front yard. It was standing there, rolling it's shoulders and whining softly while it kept its head down, and I swallowed my panic, trying to breathe. "Holy… Christ." The wolf whined once more and I took a step down the front steps of the house, ignoring Edward's nervous presence behind me. "Embry?" I asked shakily, and the wolf looked up at me. The eyes—that dark hazel color that I'd come to know—flicked up at me, and I felt a wave of sadness and confusion crash through me, feeling strangely foreign. The wolf—the _fifteen foot tall wolf standing in the yard that was apparently my ex-best friend_—looked so sad and confused and angry that I shuddered, crossing my arms across my chest defensively. What was going on?

"Maybe you shouldn't be doing that right now…" Edward suggested in a low voice that I knew he was keeping at a tone that wouldn't frighten the wolf-boy in front of me. "Rose…"

"Embry?" I asked again, taking a few steps further, and the wolf lifted it's head a little, then threw its head back, bringing its paws back as it stood, reaching, easily, 25 feet. And then he _howled_. "Shit." I mumbled as I stumbled backwards, frightened and thrown off, even as Edward seemingly appeared beside me.

"You should get back to Derrick." Edward whispered to me, and I turned sharply to him.

"No one ever mentioned my brother to you." I said under my breath, my eyes narrowed in suspicion, but Edward just stared up at the wolf before us. "Edward? How do you know Derrick?" I demanded. The wolf's paws came crashing back to the ground, and I screamed shortly, my hand coming up to cover my mouth, until I saw the wolf's eyes again. Any fear I might have felt instantly disappeared, and I stepped forward , around Edward. I was going to go pet the wolf—I wasn't sure where this idea even came from, why this had even _occurred _to me as a good idea, but it was as if I'd been working towards this for months. The wolf laid down heavily, and I crouched down beside it and put a hand on its snout, and Embry looked up at me with adoring eyes.

Holy Christ, this was _Embry_. This was _actually Embry_ inside a wolf.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" I murmured to myself, and Embry lifted his head once more to look past me to Edward. I followed his gaze, looking back at Edward, but he wasn't looking at me. Edward watched Embry for a few minutes, a frown on his face as he concentrated for a second before he smiled a little bit and glanced up at me.

"He wants you to go back to Derrick." Edward told me softly, and I glanced sharply at the Jared Wolf, who nodded. Embry-Wolf nudged my leg gently with it's nose, and I frowned down at it. How did Edward know what it wanted to say? Was he the wolf-whisperer or something?

Oh my god, I was losing it. I was standing in the presence of my boy-wolf ex-friends and I was freaked out, not because they were wolves, but because Edward was presenting an extremely alarming ability to understand wolves. I was taking for granted that Embry was a wolf. That I wanted to pet Wolf-Embry and thought he was soft and warm—not giant and scary. You know you're going crazy when your friends being wolves seems like a day-to-day occurrence.

I must be having some sort of adrenaline delayed-reaction or something. Maybe I was in shock. It had been a freaking long night before this, back when I'd just called Embry, crying because my mother was insane and couldn't help herself. Now I had _whatever_ the hell this was. And, for some reason, I felt almost magnetically pulled towards Embry. God, this was so freaking confusing. After months of avoiding Embry—months and months and months—I wanted to be near him. I felt like I needed to be near him.

"How do you know that?" I demanded, looking back up at Edward.

"Embry, or Derrick, or one of the others can you tell you later. But you really need to get back to Derrick." Edward's head turned sharply towards the forest and his expression darkened as he looked back up at his large home, and I glared at him. "Okay, then, Derrick's coming… here." Edward sighed, rolling his head back on his shoulders as he ran a hand through his copper hair, and I shivered, starkly reminded of the chilly September air. Wolf-Embry whined quietly and leaned it's head against my arm, and I hesitantly reached down to touch it again.

"He's not alone." Edward said softly as more giant wolves appeared in front of me. They all had different colored coats, and some were bigger than others, but Embry just nudged my leg as I shivered again. He stood and carefully pressed himself against my back. He was big, and soft, and warm, and I leaned against him sleepily, not even thinking twice, and the wolf curved a little to make a comfortable space for me to lean my head. He growled in pleasure, or so I thought.

But then the wolf with the darkest hair charged at Embry-Wolf, and I screamed and stepped instinctively in front of Embry-Wolf, who butted my back, growling quietly as it stood and poked it's head over mine. The dark wolf slammed to a stop, though, looking down at me, and whined loudly, glaring down at me.

Derrick was this wolf.

I _knew_ that. Instinctively, he was my brother, I'd be able to recognize him wherever he was. My twin. We had so many memories that only the other shared—our crazy mother and all the details of it, our ever-giving uncle who would rather die than show up to anything we needed him for.

"Derrick." I said shakily. "Don't you dare." Derrick stared down at me, looking shocked (well, kinda. He was a wolf, and it's not easy to look shocked as a wolf, but his eyes did get bigger). "And by the way, you owe me one _hell_ of an explanation." Another wolf growled softly, looking delighted as he perked up, and Derrick wolf turned sharply to leap at the wolf that had growled. I clapped my hand over my mouth as Embry wolf pushed me gently behind him, blocking my brother from view. "Derrick?!" I shrieked as soon as he was out of view, and I tried to move around Embry, but Embry just shook his wolfy head, pushing me backwards with his nose again, and I clutched his fur, biting my lip as I tried not to freak out. I leaned my forehead against the wolf's side, and the wolf turned its head to nudge my shoulder, whining softly. I felt a little nauseous and a little light headed, and I closed my closed my eyes. I was going to faint, or throw up, or maybe both. I didn't really want to do either in front of the boys, though, so I stumbled away from them, and a car tore into the Cullen's driveway. A young woman—college age, maybe?—opened the door, and I noticed but didn't comment on three huge scars that were raked across her face. Her serious gaze settled on me, waving me over, and I blinked, too disoriented to respond eloquently. She glanced at the two wolves coming out of the forest—Derrick-wolf and the wolf he'd attacked, and glared at both of them, causing the attacked wolf to whine softly.

"You should have told me the _second_ one of the boys imprinted, Sam! That's my department!" the woman cried angrily. "Rose, sweetheart, come over here." She called me over, turning to me, and I swayed a little, grabbing the banister. She slammed her car door shut and rushed forwards, catching me around the waist even as I steadied out.

"I'm okay," I murmured, and I saw her frown at the now obvious lumpy-stomach I had from the bandage around my ribs and the hand-print on my face. "I'm just… this is not something I've ever seen before." I said slowly, enunciating each word carefully as I struggled to keep a grip on what I was saying.

"Okay, sweetheart. My name's Emily, I'm a friend of the boys'." She murmured. She turned to the boys. "Okay, change back—you idiots realize this is the first time she's seen _any of you_, right?" Emily shot out, and Embry scampered around the side of the house while Derrick wolf came up to me and press his nose into my knees: I chuckled lightly at how wet his nose was and reached down, carefully, to pet his nose.

"You can't attack Embry." I ordered under my breath to Derrick, and he glanced up at me, his eyes begging. I hesitated, hating how incredibly backwards it felt to talk to a wolf as my brother. "No, seriously."

"You know Derrick?" Emily asked me, and I smiled slightly up at her as Derrick straightened up before sitting on his back legs.

"My brother." I supplied, twisting around to glance towards where Embry had run off too. "Where'd Em go?" I asked, and Emily gently forced me to sit down on the front steps of Edward's house. I glanced up at her and she crouched down in front of me, looking worried as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Embry's fine, Rose—I'm more concerned about you." Emily told me softly, forcing me to look her in the eyes. "Your brother and your—" she seemed to catch herself, watching me doubtfully, "Friends just turned into giant wolves. You're having a very… measured reaction."

"It's been a long night." I agreed softly, and Emily sighed, looking concerned.

"Where are these injuries from?" She asked me softly, and I looked away from her, feeling awkward. Who was this woman? Why did she feel the right to take care of me and act protective and ask me questions that obviously had complex answers? I'd never even met her before.

Embry began to jog around the side of the house, human once more, and I felt a giant wave of relief flow over me as I stood up quickly, dodging around Emily to stumble into his arms, closing my eyes as I just listened to him breathe.

"You've gotta talk to me." I begged softly, not caring that I'd intended to give him a piece of my mind. He was safe—that was all that mattered.

"I know, we'll talk at home—" Embry began, but I tilted my head back to look straight up at him, shaking my head a little bit.

"Now." I told him firmly. "It's been a long night." I repeated the sentiment I'd told Emily. "I get the short version right now—later we can hear all the details." Embry pushed my hair back from my face with one giant hand, looking pained, and I tried to ignore that that felt _good_. It felt _right_ for Embry to be acting this way. Right in a more serious sense than I'd ever had happen to me before—eternal, almost.

"You want—"

"You turn into a giant wolf sometimes." I explained quietly. "So does my brother and so the rest of them. And I don't know why, or how often or what that means for the rest of your lives." My voice was startlingly reasonable, and Embry sighed, looking concerned. Maybe I was losing my mind—maybe that was why I wasn't having some sort of normal person reaction. But this was an alarmingly real-seeming hallucination if that was the case.

I quickly stopped that idea in it's tracks—hallucinations had to be more interesting than this. I mean, having your ex-best friends and brother turn into wolves was interesting, but I figured that my mind could have at least come up with a realistic-_sounding_ hallucination.

"Anyway," I concluded. "I get to know the basic gist of what this is."

"You always were blunt." Embry mumbled uncomfortably.

"And you were always a really, really bad distracter, so come on, out with it." I demanded, and Embry exhaled heavily, releasing me cautiously. I felt my own heart fall a little and saw Embry's face betray how little he liked releasing me, but when I moved forward, he shook his head, looking pained.

"You should have… the ability to run away. Because you do have that right." He told me, and I swallowed, nodding. What was I supposed to be running away from? "And you're sure you want to hear this… here." I nodded. "In the front yard of a family you haven't even met the entirety of yet. In front of the guys." He said, and I thought over this for a second before nodding once more, a teasing smile on my face.

"Come on, Em. The hard part's over. You're wolf-boy. I just wanna know… how, why, and what the hell is going on." I told him, and he nodded slowly.

"Well." He said. "I'm a werewolf. And what that was, just now, was me losing my temper." I stared at him.

Embry Call was a werewolf.

I hesitated before I grinned, trying to suppress the laughter building in my throat. That was the funniest thing I'd ever heard—and not because I didn't believe it, because I had seen him turn into a wolf. Just because. Embry. A werewolf.

"That's…" I tried not to laugh and succeeded in limiting it to a tiny chuckle. Embry looked mildly alarmed, then grinned unsurely back at me. "Okay. Okay." I repeated, exhaling slowly as I controlled my laughter. "You're a… how do you do that, though? Because it's night now and the moon is out and you're not a wolf. I mean, you were before. But theoretically, shouldn't that last until…" Embry stared at me now.

"So." Embry said slowly. "I turned into a wolf. And so did your brother and a bunch of guys you've known since first grade. And then I phase back to tell you I'm a werewolf." Embry paused, staring at me. "And you ask how it _works_."

"What would you do?" I demanded defensively. "I'm not going to run screaming, if that's what you expected." I smiled a little, finding that I was relieved. "I was way worried about you guys. It took me months to get this out of you." Embry looked a little saddened at these words but pulled me back into his arms, burying his face in my hair.

"Thank you." He murmured.

"I still want more." I told him, and he chuckled.

"You can have whatever you want." He growled quietly in my ear, and I bit my lip, glancing up at him flirtatiously. Why was I doing this? This wasn't me—I didn't flirt with people. I didn't even talk to people. I mean, I still loved Embry, but it was like a brother, a best friend. Unless, it wasn't like a brother.

Oh, _shit_. I had a crush on Embry. The world hated me.

I just buried my face in Embry's shoulder, pressing my face into his neck, closing my eyes. I wasn't going to think about that, whatever happened, happened.

At least Embry'd be there.


	6. In Which Things Get Better

"He still has Mono." I insisted to my principal as I followed him down the hallway the next day. Mr. Cabot had called me out of my last class to discuss my brother's prolonged absence, and I was now currently battling for all the guys.

Mr. Cabot was in his early fifties, and was pretty much the most exhausted looking man I knew. He had graying brown hair and golden skin, a sign of his Native American heritage, just like pretty much everyone else on the reservation. He was an inch shorter than me, but must have worked out often because he still had some serious muscles and coached the ice hockey team.

"So do Embry Call, Jacob Black, Jared Gentry, Seth Clearwater, Paul Wainscott and Quil Ateara as of this morning, when their _parents_," His skepticism of whoever (Emily) had called them in was practically tangible, "Called them in sick." Mr. Cabot continued. "That cannot be right, Miss Mehta." He paused, and I took that as a chance to jump in.

"They're just friends, they share food and drinks all the time." Mr. Cabot snorted in skeptical laughter.

"Ah, Miss Mehta. I know that you and Embry Call had some sort of falling out, moreover that _Mr_. Mehta will not even converse with your old friends because more than once I've had to test the silence between Mr. Ateara and Mr. Mehta on the ice." Mr. Cabot spotted my bluff instantly and I shrugged, rolling my eyes. "Do not lie to me. I may be an adult but I know more of what goes on with you kids than you think." I stiffened at these words, searching Mr. Cabot's face for any knowledge of the wolf-boys that made up my friends and family, but he didn't betray anything else. "Besides, your _father_ apparently called Derrick in sick." Mr. Cabot said quietly. "Your mother doesn't even have a boyfriend." He frowned at me. Mr. Cabot was my across-the-street neighbor, and was sort of a friend of the family, back when we had those. Now he just knew too much about my family.

"That was my uncle Walter." I lied fluidly. "My mom's brother, he's like another parent. He probably just said father to avoid any confusion."

"Alright Ms. Mehta." Mr. Cabot conceded. "Your uncle should call my office tomorrow, though, just so I can be sure." He paused, scrutinizing me skeptically. "But your brother better have Mono."

"He does, he does, I swear." I told him. Mr. Cabot nodded.

"Well, Ms. Mehta there's only a minute or so left until the end of the day, you might as well take your leave." He said, and I nodded, smiling nervously—Mr. Cabot hadn't fallen for my excuse by a mile.

I pulled away from Mr. Cabot, turning on my heel and walking down the hallway and turning the corner, waiting for another two turns before I allowed myself to pull my phone out. I punched in Derrick's number, knowing that he probably wouldn't pick up. He didn't, and I hung up the moment he hit his message machine as I stepped out of the building—and stopped, surprised.

Embry was sitting astride a motorcycle, flipping through BBMs on his blackberry.

"Em?" I asked, confused. "Em—you can't be here, I just made a bunch of BS up about you having Mono." I told him hurriedly, and he grinned a little sadly, beckoning me forward.

"Who cares, come on." He offered, holding out a helmet.

"No, Em, you'll crash and we'll both die. And Derrick will be sad." I dead-panned, and Embry struggled to keep the smile on his face, suddenly looking paler. "I've got my car here anyway. I can't just ditch it."

"I'll get one of the guys to pick it up for you." Embry insisted. "Come on." I smiled shyly, taking a few steps forward. "Aw, nothing will happen to you, I promise it." He said, and I grinned at the response, taking the helmet he proffered and turning it over in my hands. I looked down at it, grinning stupidly, before I heard Mr. Cabot behind me.

"Mr. Call!" Mr. Cabot called from the doorway. I stared at Embry, a guilty grin on my face as I considered my options. Stay and get in trouble for lying (or lie some more), or get on the back of Embry's bike. I glanced back at Mr. Cabot and, still grinning rebelliously, shoved the helmet on my head, lifted my school bag onto my shoulder and straddled the motorcycle behind Embry, my stomach turning over in nervousness while I wrapped my arms firmly around him. Embry grinned back at me before putting his own helmet on and revved the engine, mostly for effect, before we tore off, leaving a shocked Mr. Cabot in the school entrance.

"Holy shit I've never done anything like that!" I squealed over the wind and Embry laughed, making the motorcycle go faster, and I squeezed him tightly, turning my face into his warm back.

"Wanna go to the beach?" He asked, glancing back, and I nodded into his back, too nervous to talk. He chuckled again, and I tried to ignore how my heart warmed at the feeling of Embry laughing within my arms.

God, was I turning into a sap.

Embry easily stopped at the beach and I released him carefully, stepping carefully off, and he put a hand on my waist, helping me keep my balance, though it wasn't really necessary—I was okay at staying upright. But I still liked the feeling of his hand on my waist.

"It's gorgeous out." I commented, grinning up at the clear blue sky. "This is so weird—the weather is aware it's sort of September, right?"

"Shh, don't jinx it." Embry ordered, kicking off his sneakers. I followed Embry, stepping out of my flats as I felt the sand between my toes. He grabbed my hand and we fell easily into step my long legs easily matching his stride down the beach. We walked in silence for a few minutes, me smiling like the idiot I was, before he sighed, glancing up at me. "Okay. So. We haven't really discussed a lot of the whole me being a wolf thing."

"Too true." I agreed easily. Embry waited, looking tense, and I let him sit in silence, feeling a little mean. I'd waited months for him to talk to me. I could play with him a little. "Okay, I've got some questions, I guess. Um, so why… are you guys… like bitten by a radioactive spider, or something?" I asked slowly. Embry laughed loudly, and I glared at him, shoving his side. "Embry!"

"I'm not spider man." Embry gasped out while he laughed, and I glared at him.

"Yeah, you're a werewolf—_so_ much different!" I protested, scowling still, and I turned to walk off, but he wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulling me flush against him.

"Valid point." He chuckled, his suddenly husky voice next to my ear, and I turned within his arms to put my hands on his chest: a warning, nothing more. I wasn't going to start this with some idiot who wasn't my boyfriend. And I wasn't sure I wanted Embry to be my boyfriend. Well, in my perfect world, I did want that. But I needed more information first. "It's genetic." He murmured finally, looking down at me, his laughter stopping as our conversation suddenly took a much more intense turn. "My dad—whoever the hell he is—had the genes, inherited from this tribe a while back in the family tree."

"So…" I swallowed. "My dad."

"Yeah." Embry said softly. "Yeah he's from around here." Embry tilted his head to the side, one hand rising from my hip to push a few stray strands of hair out of my face. "Sam's dad, Jake's dad, or Quil's dad." I blanched, my eyes widening.

"What?" I whispered. "But…" I was scandalized into silence at this revelation. Embry nodded, and I closed my eyes, leaning my forehead against his chest, tucking my head under his chin. "Oh. That sucks."

"Yeah." He said tiredly. "It does suck."

"There's…" I hesitated. "No chance. That you and me. Are…" _Brother and Sister_. The idea broke my heart, somewhat ironically: how many times, when I'd been a kid, had I wished for Derrick and Embry to switch places?

"No." Embry said firmly. "Already talked to Sam and Jake about it—and since I impri—it's impossible, just because of some technical stuff Mom explained to me." He shifted, and I closed my eyes, loving the feeling of his polo shirt against my cheek.

"Why would you talk to Sam and Jake about it?" I asked softly.

"Jake's technically my alpha and Sam's not-so-technically his beta, but Sam was alpha first so he gets dibs, most of the time. Except when Leah's there because she's technically beta." He explained quickly, seeming to want to get this part over with. He must have sense my lack of understanding, though, because he continued on to translate what he'd said into English. "Like, Jake's head of the pack of wolves. And Leah's his lieutenant. And Sam used to be head of sort of a different pack, even though all the people are the same. But then Jake got all pissed at him cuz his sort of ex-girlfriend needed help and Sam didn't want to help her because she had a boyfriend who was driving him insane and he just wanted to stay the hell out of their drama. But that didn't work." I tried to sift through this information and came up empty, my head hurting.

"Hm." I said after a minute. "So. Jake's your current alpha." This was a total guess.

"Yeah. Me and Quil switched over a few months ago so it was just Paul, Jared and Sam and then they joined too." Embry murmured into my hair. I lifted my head to look up at Embry.

"Okay." I said slowly. "And my next question is why the hell this happened when it did." I looked up at him, trying not show the stress of the past few days, reaching up to cup his face with my hand. "I mean, and why couldn't you tell me? We've known each other for years, Em, and then one day your sophomore year in high school you turned into a wolf and you couldn't tell me?" I stroked his cheekbone with my thumb. I had to ask the next question even though the possibility that I wouldn't like his answer scared me to death. I swallowed, then took a deep breath. "Didn't you… trust me?"

"Yes!" Embry looked distraught, suddenly, leaping back and out of my arms as he tried, animatedly, to explain what had been going on inside his head. "Oh, God, Rosie—I trust you with my life. We've been best friends for years, you were pretty much... Jesus, Rosie." Embry ran his hand through his hair and I crossed my arms defensively across my chest. "I just, I was confused, and then I couldn't disobey a direct order from my alpha, who was Sam who forbade me from telling you or phasing in front of you. And I wanted to so bad, Rose, but by the time Jake became my alpha and told me I could tell you, I'd screwed up stuff so bad that I was petrified to even look at you in the hallways." He came closer, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me a little, leaning my forehead against his. My breathing sped a little bit, and he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Rose." He murmured, my name rolling off his tongue. "I broke my own heart, not talking to you."

I closed my eyes.

"And then your brother. Derrick started demonstrating signs over the summer, and the town council told us to peek in on him, but every-time we tried to talk to him—he shoved it in my face, how broken you were. And it killed me, Ro, but…" He sighed. "Alphas win. Almost everytime." He swallowed, evidently keeping something quiet but I didn't even bother trying to decode what it was--I was still struggling through the information I did have.

"And Derrick didn't tell me why he couldn't be home because…" I let my voice drift off.

"It's not safe for him to be around you." Embry murmured. "He changes too easily—the printer will run out of paper and he'll phase." I smiled a little, tilting my head to the side to meet his solemn hazel gaze.

"Sounds like my retard of a brother." I agreed softly. "But you know that he'd never hurt me. It's safe for him to be around me." And this was the truth—Derrick and I put each other before everyone else. He wouldn't hurt me if it was a fight to the death.

"He would never intend to hurt you." Embry agreed softly. "But he can't help it—it won't be a conscious decision to change until he phases a bunch more." I nodded slowly, considering that. "So you won't see Derrick much for a week or two." I frowned up at him.

"I'll risk it." I told him softly. "He's my brother."

"No, Rose." Embry insisted. "Look—you've seen Emily, right? Those scars on her face? Well she was too close when Sam phased once. It wasn't his fault, he felt like shit about it for months." Embry pressed his lips to the top of my head, and I closed my eyes at how sweet this felt, how much I loved being _this close_ to being Embry's girlfriend. I couldn't help but feel guilty at how bad he obviously felt about this, though: he sounded distraught at the _thought_ that I'd be hurt. "Babe, I couldn't handle that." He murmured into my hair. "I couldn't handle getting you into this world and then hurting you. Or watching someone else hurt you."

"You didn't get me into this world." I reminded him gently. "I was genetically predestined for this, or something." I felt awkward saying that, since it sounded so intense, but it was sort of true— whoever our dad was, he was the one with the genes that got Derrick and eventually me into this. "And aside from that, I fought you to get here. I had to argue with you and Der and Jared and Quil and Jake and Sam." I told him softly. "It took me _months_. So it's not like you dragged me into knowing about werewolves and... vampires." The Cullens had been discussed with me last night, to some extent. I was a little sketchy on the myths, but Jake had tried his best. In between hugging me freaking hard and apologizing for hurting my ribs, of course. "I chose this."

"Yeah... but there's so much involved with this, Ro." Embry said softly. "This means I'm here for the rest of my life. Derrick's here for the rest of his life, Sam's here for the rest of his life— we might go to college but we still have to be here all the time so it can't be far away." I nodded, feeling oddly trapped. Embry was my... I couldn't leave him here, flee to the East Coast at the earliest possible minute. I'd been planning to _never_ look back. And then I'd liked Embry and seen him turn into a freaking wolf and my brother had turned into one.

But I'd worked so hard to waste my 4.1 GPA on Washington University. I'd taken all honors, then all APs, and killed myself writing these essays and doing tests and raising my GPA. I couldn't just go state with all of that.

"Rosie?" Embry asked me after a minute. "Babe, you okay? I know this must be a lot... I understand if you want some time, or something." Embry sounded like this was even hard to suggest, and I forced a smile onto my face, lifting my hand to cup his cheek again. I slid it to the back of his head and pulled him down to press my lips to his. He grinned briefly against my lips before getting further into it, his hand widening on my lower back and the other sliding up my back to the back of my head, and I pulled away after a few moments to grin, dazzled, up at him.

My senior year was finally, finally, _finally_ looking up.


	7. In Which I Realize I've Survived

I sighed as I stood in front of the principal's office, feeling nervous: there'd been a note taped to my locker that I had to talk to Mr. Cabot. I'd spent all day avoiding him and just trying to sit still through what turned out to be some of the most boring classes ever, but it'd been difficult. I couldn't stop thinking about Embry.

It'd been a two weeks since Embry'd kissed me, and life was sort of fantastic. I had friends. And they weren't at school, but they did exist. And I had a boyfriend. And I was acing my classes. My mother still hadn't reappeared, but I liked it that way—it was easier.

My day was going well. Except for Mr. Cabot.

I finally knocked, shifting nervously as Mr. Cabot instructed me to come in. I turned the note over in my fingers as I went inside and sat down across from Mr. Cabot. What was I supposed to tell him?

"Miss Mehta," Mr. Cabot said solemnly. "We need to discuss a few things, first of which being the fact that I have _no_ idea where your mother is." I froze at this, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest, while I sat here and wished that Derrick was here with me. "I dropped by your house last night and no one was home and my wife mentioned over dinner that your mother left a few nights ago and never came back." _Oh no_. "I've called every contact number I have for her since yesterday afternoon in an effort to talk to her about your _performance_ yesterday, and all of the numbers have been cut off, or now belong to someone else."

"Mr. Cabot," I began slowly, my heart pounding. "My mom's just on a trip, she'll be back in a few weeks…"

"She left you and Derrick alone for a few weeks?" Mr. Cabot asked. "This doesn't seem very responsible, Miss Mehta." Mr. Cabot looked unhappy for a moment, and his voice dropped. "And your mother has had _problems_ in the past." I swallowed, straightening and glaring at Mr. Cabot angrily.

"This isn't your business." I said tightly. "Mom's got problems but she's fine now," That was a lie, and it probably meant I was a sociopath that I felt absolutely no remorse for it, "and she's just on a trip. If you're uncomfortable with that, you are not my parent. You don't _have_ to be comfortable with that."

Mr. Cabot stared at me evenly. "Miss Mehta, I work at a school. I have a civic and personal responsibility if I think children are neglected or abused." My heart was pounding in my chest. "I'm also your neighbor and remember—remember when your uncle came when you two were younger because your mother was too sick to take care of you." My eyes filled unwillingly with tears, and I swallowed hard, trying not to cry. This was _none of Mr. Cabot's business_. "I'm unwilling to leave you in a hostile home environment. And I've seen your injuries. The bruised ribs the PE department told me about, the mark on your face from where I can only assume someone slapped you…" I swallowed again, leaning forward and massaging my temples.

We sat in silence for a few moments, and Mr. Cabot sighed. "Alright, Miss Mehta. I'll let you go now." I nodded, staying silent. "You also have to serve a week's detention, but that can start tomorrow. Also remember that your uncle has to call me." I nodded again, rising from my seat and darting out the door, thankful that I had free periods for the rest of the day: I darted into the parking lot and walked to where I knew I'd left my car, enjoying the cold wind on my face.

I flipped open my phone and played with the buttons, considering my options. I really wanted to call Embry. But I'd already flipped out on him before. Not to say I wouldn't again, but I might want to save my flip out opportunities.

I punched in my mother's cell phone number as I got in the car, praying that what Mr. Cabot had said was true—that she'd disconnected her cell phone.

_The number you're trying to dial is no longer in service_. I exhaled heavily, slamming my door shut. I flipped my phone shut and pursed my lips before I flipped it open again and dialed Derrick's number automatically, not even bothering with my contacts.

"You're supposed to be at school." Embry's voice said as he picked up Derrick's phone, and I grinned in spite of myself. It was pathetic how Embry's voice alone now brightened my mood.

"Thanks Dad." I retorted. "And even though you're not in any position to be saying that," I began, shifting the phone to speaker and putting it in the cup holder, so I wouldn't get pulled over by the cops, "Since you're skipping school with the not-really believed excuse of a bad case of Mono, I do not want to debate that." My voice softened. "I need to talk to Derrick, Em."

"But _I_ want to talk to you." Embry complained, and I grinned at the warm feeling that spread through me at these words. So, so sappy.

"Meet me at the Caribou Coffee in 20 minutes?" I suggested. I hated Caribou Coffee, and thought the cofee was actually god-awful, but it was the only chain coffee place that the town council hadn't tried to shove out. The town council, for some reason, lived in fear of chains worming their way into our not-so-quaint little town.

"Yes!" Embry sounded delighted, and I heard a crashing sound then some sort of bustle.

"Hey Rosie," Derrick said charmingly.

"Hey Der." I chimed. Then I remembered why I'd called Derrick in the first place, and the happy feeling went away. "Oh, um." I hesitated. "Der, Mr. Cabot sort of knows Mom's not home. I tried to lie but—"

"Fuck." Derrick groaned in irritation. "What—Ro, he _can't_ find out, this isn't funny."

"Of course it's not funny, idiot." I retorted. "Because it's not a _joke_." I rolled my eyes at how stupid my brother could be. "However. The good news is that he's not really sure and I lied in a way that can continue at least till Thanksgiving." I grinned proudly. "Bad news is I lied for you retards and have a week's worth detention as a result, and I told Mr. Cabot that Uncle Walt would call him despite the fact that Uncle Walt really can't do that because he doesn't know you have not-really-mono." I continued all in one breath. Derrick sighed heavily on the other end of the phone, and I heard voices in the background—Jared, Jake? All I knew was that it wasn't Embry, because his voice had somehow become so distinctive to me that I wouldn't have confused it.

"_What_?!" Derrick demanded confusedly. "Wait, I'm so..." He paused. "Jared, goddamned _stop_ it!" He shouted in the background, answering my unsaid question. "I'm talking to my _sister_!" He shouted angrily, and I rolled my eyes as I pulled onto the highway.

"Derrick, calm down." I ordered in my serious voice, hoping that would be enough to stop Derrick from phasing. I hadn't had to talk one of the boys down yet, but I really wanted to try--Kim had told me, briefly, that it wasn't that hard to talk your imprint down, because they'd do pretty much anything for you. But I was the only one with a sibling among the wolves who had an imprint, which meant I was so seriously involved in the pack's lives that I might have been too far in to talk Derrick down from any ledge.

"Derrick," I continued when I just heard him panting. "Calm. Down. Now." I paused. "I'm being serious, bro. Don't you dare phase or I'll hang up on you." I explained to him, and I wondered, somewhere in the back of my mind, when I'd begun to use phrases like "phase" so easily. Would this ever be the norm, for me?

I mean, we had to be honest. Werewolves were _not_ normal--even more not normal was the fact that my own brother and my sort-of boyfriend were werewolves and I just sort of took this for granted.

But what was my other option? Derrick was my brother, my twin. I couldn't just reject him because he was actually a giant furry beast sometimes. And I couldn't reject my best friend turned ex best friend turned almost boyfriend because he had the same issue. Especially when I literally had no friends who weren't either furry beasts or loved furry beasts (Kim Conweller, for one, who I wasn't even really friends with, but I could actually talk to, and Emily).

I rolled forward, waiting until Derrick's strange gasping noises stopped to continue my conversation. "Anyway, as I was trying to tell you," I continued to Derrick after a few minutes. "I thought that maybe Sam," who I'd met briefly, and had turned out to be the boy who had originally tried to get me to go away, two days ago. "Could call and be like 'hi I'm Walter Mehta, and my nephew Derrick who I'm like a father to,' (because that's what I told Mr. Cabot) 'has Mono.'" I pulled into the parking lot for the strip mall where Caribou Coffee was.

"Uncle Walt has a southern accent." Derrick pointed out accurately.

"Mr. Cabot and Walt haven't actually _met,_ have they?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "And they're not about to be best friends. After a few months..." I fell silent, remembering that what I was about to say was no longer necessarily true. _After a few months we're out of here_. Embry was here. Derrick was bound here by some sort of 23rd genome that sketched me out and turned him into a giant wolf on occasion. Jared, Jake, Paul, and Quil were here.

Mom was here.

Or, you know. Sorta.

"Yeah," I finally said. "That could be a problem." My voice was suddenly bleak even as I pulled into my parking spot and stopped my car, then sitting there and leaving the keys in the ignition.

"Hey," Derrick said quietly. "You okay?" He asked. I glanced down at the radio, which I'd put the XM radio my uncle was paying for on, playing around with the stations mindlessly.

"I'm hanging in." I said finally, looking up and spotting Embry, who was currently grinning at me from his spot leaning against one of the columns in front of Caribou Coffee. "Okay, gotta go!" I said more cheerily. He looked _fantastic, _his brown hair looking windswept and his face was just... oh _God_ this sounded sappy, but his face was just perfect. Why had I gone from hating Embry to loving him in ten seconds?

"You're sickeningly in love with Embry." Derrick offered to me in a slow drawl, and my gaze flicked frantically away from Embry as a hasty blush covered my face, even though Derrick couldn't see me.

"Are you kidding me!" I demanded in an infuriated whisper. "I'm not _in love,_ Derrick. The boy broke my heart a few months ago, and then we were just friends! If I actually _loved_ him... what--are you--you're--" Derrick, who had been snickering, fell silent at my last stuttering defensive statement, and I pressed my hand over my eyes, blushing heavily again.

"You _are!" _He whispered to me. "You would have just made fun of me if you weren't--oh my GOD my twin sister, Rose Kathleen Mehta is in love with Embry Hudome Call!" He sounded caught between disgusted and really, really pleased.

"Stop it." I shot at him. "Now I'm going to go work out whether I'm actually dating this boy or not in the next half hour or so." I informed Derrick flatly. "So you'll be normal and nice and a supportive twin brother because I'm currently involved in a world where werewolves and vampires not only exist but argue frequently because you are a wolfboy." I kept my voice light and teasing, knowing that Derrick knew me better than to think I was actually bitter. And I was actually a little bitter. But this wasn't Derrick's fault. So I wouldn't channel it towards him. "Bye Bro." I said with a charming tone.

"You win. Bye." He said flatly, and I flipped my phone shut and jumped out of my car, raking some of my hair out of my face. I strode towards Embry, and he grabbed my waist and flipped me around, so my back was against the wall he'd been leaning against, and my arms folded around his neck easily. He pressed his lips to my collar bone, than the base of my neck, then he ducked his head beside mine.

"Hey, girlfriend." He whispered to me, and I grinned, turning my head to press my lips to his.

"Hey boyfriend," I murmured as I pulled back, and he grabbed my hand and pulled me after him into Caribou Coffee. I grinned, ducking my head. I heard someone call out just as we got in line, and Embry and I turned as one, our hands still tightly clasped.

"Embry, hey man," Rowan Morgan said, coming from where he'd been sitting with a few of his friends, and Embry pulled me to him, one arm around my waist. "Oh, Rose?" Row had been a friend of mine, just a normal friend, not a best friend, back before. Before Embry had ditched. "Wow, are you guys...?" His voice trailed off, and he looked at me seriously, his gaze asking what he didn't dare say allowed to a boy as big as Embry. _Is this actually a good idea?_

Row had, in addition to Derrick, tried to pull me out of the loner spiral I'd shoved myself into following my friends' collective ditching. He'd seen me pull back, had tried his hardest to pull me out of my funk, but when I'd stopped answering the phone when he called, he'd lost his drive.

"Yeah, we're dating." Embry said, grinning recklessly. "How've you been man? It's been a while."

"Great, great." He frowned at Embry. "You still at school?"

"Eh, sorta." Embry said, shrugging, and I ducked my head, trying not to show how uncomfortable Embry's answer made me.

"And our Rosie's letting you?" Rowan demanded, grinning at me, his gaze serious all the same. He was watching me, trying to gauge my reaction to what he'd said, and I smiled carefully at him. "Doesn't sound like the Rose I remember. From sophomore and part of junior year, of course." Embry stiffened, and my gaze fell, even as I slipped my hand over Embry's on my hip.

"Row." I said quietly. "Don't." I murmured finally, after a moment, and Rowan stared at me again before he nodded, pulling back and crossing his arms against his chest.

"Whatever you want, Rosie." He said gently, and I nodded, leaning back against Embry. Rowan peeled back to go to his friends at their table, and I turned to Embry lifting my head to look at him.

"What was that?" Embry asked slowly.

"Rowan's just used to intercepting." I murmured, glancing back at the boy. "Back when we weren't talking, Row tried to take care of me, insofar as he could." I shrugged, and Embry looked pained, even as he played with the ends of my hair.

"Okay." He said finally, pulling back, and I rested my fingertips against his chest.

"Are you okay?" I asked emphatically, looking up at him, my gaze solemn.

"I just... wish that the last few months had never happened." Embry sighed heavily. "The last few months almost destroyed you, I've seen everything in Derrick's head." Embry sounded heartbroken, even as he glared at the wall before turning his broken gaze back to me. "I've seen everything in Derrick's head, Ro." He repeated. I frowned--I'd been a loner, and cried a few times, sure, but I hadn't been, like, cutting or anything. "I just screwed you up bad and I feel guilty." He murmured.

"I survived." I told Embry, lifting my hand to slip around his neck. I pulled him down for a kiss and he didn't resist.

And what I'd said to Em was true. I had survived.

And come to this.


	8. In Which the Picture Changes Everything

"No!" I protested to Embry a week later, grinning at him over our French homework. Embry had, somehow, gotten into AP French. And I say somehow, not because my boyfriend isn't an angel (which he is) but because he has little to no knowledge of the French language. "The word _frere _means brother! Not broken!" I glared at him. "You must have watched Madeleine with me a hundred times--how do you not know this?" I demanded teasingly, and Jared grinned over at us from his spot in the chair across from my bed. Kim was leaning back against his knees, her head in his lap, her Calculus textbook opened to a page she'd been reading and re-reading for an hour and a half.

Obviously, not a lot of work getting done.

"You watched _Madeleine_?" Jared demanded, looking delighted, and Embry blushed hastily, pulling me closer to him. "Dude... I've known Ro for forever and I would have sooner died than conform to her girl movies." I glared at him.

"Sexist." I accused, and he snorted.

"If that's the reason I didn't have to watch the Pippi Longstocking Movie with you than alright, whatever." Jared retorted, and I rolled my eyes at his incredible maturity.

"I think it's cute." Kim interrupted, smiling sweetly up at Jared, who's entire facade melted to smile sweetly back at Kim, smoothing her hair away from her face. It was actually fantastic to watch Jared with Kim--quiet, reserved, funny Jared opening up to this girl was such a miraculous event that I was willing to fall at Kim's feet for it. It also helped that Kim and I were officially friends, sitting together in a few classes and everything. "He obviously had a crush on her back then--how sweet is it that he rode it out to get to here? And they're dating now!" Kim protested, and Jared nodded, suddenly seeming mindless. Did Embry ever look like that with me? I wondered, glancing at my boyfriend, who sitting with his warm arm comfortably around me. And then I realized he was sitting on my French project.

"No!" I protested suddenly, pulling out the construction paper out from under him and feeling like an idiot. "Ah, you crushed my uncle Geoffrey's wife Amelie..." I cried, smoothing out the paragraph I'd written about Amelie. For French we had to do a family tree with a paragraph about each family member, using the subjunctive at least twice in the paragraph and imperfect vs. the passe compose. Which meant that this stupid tree wasn't getting crushed for anything.

"Sorry!" Embry said, sounding genuinely apologetic, and I half-smiled up at him, shrugging one shoulder: it was okay. "No, I didn't mess it up, did I?" He asked, and I shook my head, smoothing out where I would put a picture of Amelie (if I could find one.) "Oh, yours looks so much better than mine..." He murmured, glancing down at his own forlorn-looking project. "Course, Mom's an only child. So am I. So there's significantly less on my tree." He defended to himself.

"I need photos for this thing, so I'm gonna run up to the attic, come with?" I asked with a big smile, and Embry nodded quickly, pressing his lips to mine easily as he dropped his project. I breathed an inner sigh of relief. Good. The attic was super, duper creepy. And Embry was a big strong werewolf in addition to being a big strong boy. He could squish spiders, and get rid of other icky stuff. Lord only knows what was in that attic--I didn't think anyone had been up there in years. Of course, it wasn't like I had time to do a lot of spring cleaning, between having a werewolf brother and a vertiably insane mother.

It'd been a week since Embry and I had run into Rowan at Caribou Coffee, and all the boys, save Derrick, were back at school and acting sort of like normal people. Em was still uncomfortable with a lot of stuff, though, and I wasn't sure I could blame him--Rowan had been getting more awkward recently, flirting a little more and giving me warning looks whenever I was with Embry. Not like, threatening warning looks, but doubtful ones. He was worried about me, and as sweet as that was, I was just endlessly relieved to not be the kid who had to sit alone at lunch anymore. Unfortunately, though, this was, subsequently, forcing Embry to sort of develop a guilt complex the size of the state of Washington because he felt enormously guilty that Rowan, who was fairly reasonable, felt this strong a need to protect me from him. As if it was somehow his fault. Another problem on my plate was that, despite the fact that Sam Uley had called Mr. Cabot, pretending to be Walt, Mr. Cabot was still really uncomfortable with the fact that Derrick and I were on our own, and had mentioned it several times. His seventh-grade son had been sent over twice, now, inviting us over to dinner. Mr. Cabot really just wanted to take care of the kids at his school, I knew, and he was our neighbor, which meant our families were closer than the usual family was with their local school administrator, but I didn't have the energy to deal with someone else who meant well but wasn't doing anything helpful.

"Who are you looking for photos of?" Kim asked me, and I glanced down at my paper.

"Photos of my uncle, Mom, grandparents, my other uncle, Amelie..." I fell silent, noticing the awkwardness that came over the room--but how could it not be awkward? Mom hadn't been home yet. She was still gone, my brother was still a werewolf, and I still walked around a little more gingerly than usual because three of my ribs were still broken. For all that stuff hadn't been magically fixing itself, I still had Embry. And I felt a little stupid talking about him like he was my lifeline, because aside from the fact that I really didn't need a lifeline, I had a brother and an uncle and a sometimes-present mother.

"You have two uncles?" Embry asked me curiously.

"Yeah--Geoffrey lives in France, I haven't seen him in a while but he sends Christmas presents and stuff." I murmured, shrugging. "And you remember Walter." Embry had met Walt a dozen times. We fell silent for a moment, and Embry looked at me seriously as we trekked up the attic stairs into the darkness.

"Can I ask you a question?" He said quietly, and I nodded cautiously, swallowing. I wasn't sure I liked where this was going. But he'd been a friend for a while and my boyfriend for a little over a week, so he deserved some answers. "Your Mom." I sighed, straightening unconsciously and crossing my arms over my chest, already on the defensive before the actual question was voiced. "I'm so confused--I know we didn't use to talk about her much, but I'm really worried, Ro." I stopped on the landing, turning to face him, my gaze hardened and my expression stony. "Dammit, Rose. Don't do that." He growled irritatedly at me. "You're my girlfriend and, as far as I can tell, you're living alone because Shannon ditched and your brother's always doing rounds with us." He glared at me. "What if your Mom comes back and we're out doing rounds, or something? What if she," Embry's voice cracked, and I forced my self to reevaluate: poor Em looked exhaused and worried. "What if she _hurts you_? Again. I can't... I can't live like this, Ro, wondering if I'm about to get a call from you again where you're crying and I can bearly stay human long enough to figure out what happened." His large hand rose to cup my face. "Or worse. A call from the hospital." Embry walked up the steps a little bit, and I slid my arms around him, pressing my body against his. "You don't know what that would do to me, Rosie, but it would be so past hell that I can't even begin to explain."

"Mom's probably gonna come back, soon--I canceled all her credit cards, and her ATM card only had so much money left in the account." I acknowedged softly. "But I know how to handle her--she'd not as hard to deal with as she may seem." Embry opened his mouth but I smiled a little sadly at him, lifting a finger to his lips. "People with bipolar disorder, they don't just get violent, babe. There's a trigger--in this case, her insolent teenage daughter. I should have acted differently, I know how to act differently." I told him.

"This is _not_ your fault_." _Embry said intensely. "You are a freaking fantastic daughter--most kids wouldn't have held out till now."

"Yeah, it is." I said quietly. "It was an accident. But it's my fault." I murmured. "I know she's sick. I violated the rules I was taught about her illness." I sighed, ignoring the pained look on his face. "No, I'm being serious, Embry. I take care of her--that's the way it's always been. Derrick's there for both of us but I s'pose not in the same way--he's just pissed at Mom. And Walt's scared. Someone has to be there for her, even if she's not there for me." My words were startlingly honest: maybe more honest than I'd ever been with anyone about my mom. But Embry and me...we weren't like anyone else. "And I know it sucks. But she's sick."

"But she's your Mom." Embry murmured. "There's...something, just, conceptually wrong here when you have to prep yourself to deal with your mother the way that you do." I swallowed, feeling defensive again, but trying to smother it. Embry was too important to push away for this. "I'm serious, babe. You deserve a Mom, Rose. You're a good _person_, you've always been a good friend--you get a win, somewhere along the way."

"Maybe you're my win." I told him softly, lifting a hand to touch his cheek lightly. "Maybe you're the reward." I grinned at the suddenly doting look on his face, and he kissed me again, for longer, this time. His tongue slid slyly against my lower lip and my mouth opened automatically, my arms lifting to his neck to cup the back of his head. We remained in this piece of heaven for a few minutes before he pulled away, smoothing my hair back from my face, tucking a few stray strands behind my ear.

"Love, you're _my_ reward." He corrected softly. I grinned up at him, feeling dazzled even as I tried to catch my breath at how ridiculously lucky I was. Then I sighed, glancing back down at the boxes of photos at my feet.

I pulled away from Embry, ducking my head. I felt Embry's eyes on me.

"Em, come settle a bet, won't you?" Kim called out from downstairs, and I glanced ruefully at the door. Embry smiled at me meaningfully, his eyebrows furrowing despite his attempt at being cheerful. "Guess we'll talk later, then." He murmured finally, slipping down the steps, and I turned and crouched down in front of a box of photos. I piled two smaller boxes within and went back downstairs, going into my room and setting them heavily down on the ground. Kim grinned, flipping shut her textbook and sitting down beside me. "Oh my _god_, baby Rose and Derrick!" Kim squealed, pulling box into her lap and picking up a photo of Der's and my first halloween. "Aww! You two are the cutest kids on the planet!"

"If you see an old looking picture, tell me, kay?" I asked, and she nodded absently flipping through the pictures. I looked up at Embry who grinned sweetly at me and I grinned back, before I glanced down at the photos in my box, flipping through what were mostly pictures of Embry and I, or Jared and I--me and another friend whose mother had taken the picture and sent us a copy. "Oh, Jare!" I squealed, looking up at my friend. "Do you remember this?" I held up a picture of seven-year-old Jared and me at Six Flags sitting in our first roller coaster: Derrick was too chicken to get on.

"Awww," Kim cooed, snatching the photo and looking at it. I grinned at her before I looked back down at the pictures in my box. I sifted through a few, picking out a few pictures of Mom, Geoffrey and Walter from when they were younger, and pictures of my grand parents before I found them. Two pictures.

The first was of a man--Quileute Indian, I could recognize it from a mile away after growing up on the La Push Reservation--and my mother, and they were at a party, somewhere, the man's arms wrapped around Mom's waist, she sitting on his lap. I could already tell--this was before Mom got sick. Mom didn't wear skirts to her knee, now, or polos: halter tops and tiny skirts, or sweat pants and sweatshirtst that she wouldn't change for days. I didn't recognize their location, but when I flipped the photo over, it confirmed what I already knew.

This picture was taken a year before my birth. Three months before my unintentional conception.

The other photo really spelled it out, though, in case I'd ever wondered. Mom was sitting in a hospital bed in this photo, an infant wrapped in a pale pink blanket in her arms. That same man, looking teary, was holding a pale-blue-blanket-wrapped infant while he sat in a chair beside the hospital bed, his eyes on Mom lovingly, his grip firm but tender on the baby. The date on the back of the picture reinforced what I already knew, even as I tried to process it. This was taken the day of my birth.

This man was my father.

"Holy shit." I murmured, looking down at the picture and feeling my eyes sting with tears. Embry materialized at my side, his arm slipping around my shoulders as he pulled me against him a little, and I leaned my head against him tiredly. He didn't even need to know what was wrong to want to comfort me. "This is..." Kim resettled her box onto the ground and crawled over and Jared crossed the room in one large stride, crouching behind Kim and playing with a few strands of her dark hair as he studied the picture. Embry seemed to blink a few times at the photo before the blood drained from his face, and Jared rocked back on his heels nervously.

"Goddamn, that's Sam's dad."


	9. In Which I Want Things to Stay the Same

"What am I supposed to do about this?" I asked Kim a week and a half later as we stood in front of Derrick's locker, retrieving yet more books for my school-skipping brother while I clutched the photo in my hand. The kid had enough catch-up homework that even looking at the pile of papers on his desk was actually starting to make _me_ anxious. And Derrick of course, in his ever-mature way, was ignoring it studiously and would probably waltz into school at some point and claim he's been too ill to even sit up, much less do homework. "I haven't even told Derrick." I told Kim softly, and her eyes widened.

"You're gonna want to do that soon." Kim told me, sounding worried. "You're _really_gonna want to do that soon. Jare and Em already know--this is going to get out and if you haven't at least talked to Der and Sam about it you're going to regret it, big time." The fact of it was, it was a miracle it hadn't come up already. Jareand Em had gone out of their way to take shifts without Sam on them, though, and the same with Derrick. But this wasn't going to last much longer.

"I know." I murmured disappointedly, shoving Derrick's AP Spanish book into my bag. "But what am I supposed to do? Hi Sam, I know you and I don't really get along very well because my boyfriend and his best friend sort of crushed any chance of your pack surviving over Jake's, but I think you might be my brother." Kim snorted in laughter, and I rolled my eyes. "I mean, Derrick will be pissed off, for sure, but not at me. With Sam, I just have no idea."

"He's honestly not a bad guy." Kim said quietly after a second. "Look, I mean, the entire reason he wouldn't help Jake with Bella was just... he was scared for the Rez kids and he figured Jake was pining after one of the only girls in Washington State he had no chance at." She shrugged. "He was doing things carefully--and eventually he came around to helping the bloodsuckers. But it was just more slowly."

"I know." I responded, keeping my voice down as well: we _were_ talking about the dynamics of our respective boyfriends' werewolf packs. "I know." I glanced around, and spotted Rowan, and I stomped on Kim's foot, causing her to slap my arm but she shut up about what we were talking about while Rowan came over.

"Rosie," He said with a big grin, and I grinned easily back, leaning against the locker. "Derrick still out?"

"Yeah, he's super sick." I said easily--this lie had been rehearsed many times for a paranoid Sam Uley. Jake cared that I didn't tell him, but he also knew that even if Rowan or anyone else knew I was lying about Derrick having mono, it would never in a million years occur to them to guess 'oh, I bet he turned into a werewolf.' "He's upset about missing the game against the Peyre-Ferry Memorial High Game." Derrick was upset about missing that game, but as Jake had explained to him, becoming a wolfboy sort of entailed giving up everything else--sports, friends outside the pack, etc--just because it was too hard to live in two different worlds. And Derrick had already deemed being a werewolf way too cool to pass up for some stupid hockey game. Way to be mature, twin.

"Yeah, we missed him on the ice." Rowan agreed, seeming distracted. "So a couple of the guys and me are going to go to the party at Ann LaFayette'sthis weekend, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with." I saw Kim straighten up in the corner of my vision, and I considered what the hell Rowan was playing at. He knew I was dating Embry--I'd told him so at Caribou Coffee. And he had half the school's girls already bowing at his feet. What'd he want me to go to some party for?

"Yeah, I'll talk to Embry and see if we want to go." I said after a moment, keeping my voice pleasant despite the fact that I was beyond confused. Rowan's face stayed in his grin, but I saw something change in his gaze--what was he _playing_ at? Was this just some stupid competitiveness with Em?

"Ro, I wanted to talk to you about Embry...and you dating him." He said quietly, putting one arm on the locker between Kim and effectively cutting her off from this conversation. I looked up at Rowan bravely: he'd never hurt me, I knew that, despite the fact that the way he was standing was now clearly meant to at least intimidate me. "After what happened last winter, spring, whenever _that_was--are you sure dating him is such a good idea?" My eyebrows flew up. Rowan and I hadn't talked in months, before the Caribou Coffee thing. And now he thought he had the right to veto my boyfriend. Hmm.

"He's pretty important to me." I told Rowan quietly. "He's been there most of the time--I'm not gonna lie to you, he hasn't been there every time, but most of the time--and I haven't been this happy in a while, Row. So, yeah, I guess I do think that." My voice wasn't confrontational, but I recognized that the words were, and I just held Rowan's gaze with my own icy one. He'd insinuated that Embry wasn't good enough, or was wrong, somehow, and I _knew _that Embry was better than everyone at this stupid school.

"Alright, whatever." Rowan said indifferently, after a second, already defensive that I hadn't agreed with him. Ah, the perils of the unchecked male ego. He crossed his arms across his chest, looking uncomfortable. He glanced around, obviously trying to keep the following words to just our conversation, before he looked back down at me, his gaze softening again. "I'm just worried about you, Rosie."

"I know." I told him, tilting my head to the side. "But... what are you playing at, Row? You know I'm dating Em and you invite me to a party? And then you trash him, or you want to, or whatever." I pursed my lips, thinking. He was my friend, I could confront him about what the hell he was doing, couldn't I? Especially when it made this little sense. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Rowan murmured tiredly, falling back a step, and he smiled tightly at me, raising a hand. "Bye Ro," He crossed the hallway and joined a group of his friends walking by, quickly fading into the crowds of people that made up the LaPush Reservation High School.

"What _was_ that?" Kim demanded, whispering, as she slid closer to me against the lockers, and I shrugged, frowning.

"I have no idea..." I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Come on--the boys are at my house this afternoon and I'm afraid to see what state my home's in." Kim smirked.

"I hope you have insurance..." She murmured as I shut Derrick's locker and spun the lock mindlessly, then started out towards the parking lot.

"How would I explain the damage though?" I asked her. "I can't exactly write '24th chromosome' as reason for damage." I glanced at her, pretending to look thoughtful. "I feel that might alarm a few people though."

"Like my boyfriend." Kim said informatively.

"And _my_ boyfriend." I added.

"And your brother." She chimed in finally as we reached my car, and I unlocked it as I removed my keys from my belt loop, throwing my book-bag in the backseat and getting in the drivers side in one easy movement. "I know I've told you this a million times, but I _love_ your car." I grinned at her as she climbed in the drivers side (I say _climb _because Kim was about five feet, two inches tall and my car was a _Hummer_--I could maneuver the unpaved parts of the Rez in this baby, it was so big).

"Me too." I glanced in the rear-viewmirror as we bothbuckled up, and pulled out of the parking spot, then the lot. "I feel like I can sort of compete with Embry sometimes, when I'm in it. Despite the fact that he's sort of a giant wolf."

"I know what you mean--it's nice to not feel scrawny all the time." She said seriously, then she grinned at me. "Of course you don't exactly _have_ that problem--you're really tall." I rolled my eyes, smiling a little. "What? You _are_." I didn't even spare her a glance, but I rolled my neck. I hated how tall I was. The only time it'd ever served as useful was me not being entirely tiny next to the boys. Other than that, the only purpose it served was forcing people to ask me _over and over again_ 'do you play basketball?' Over. And over. And over. My uncle Walt found it so hilarious now that I hated it that he liked to ask me it as a joke and just watch my face turn red for about two seconds before I would realize he was joking.

"So, how are Brady and Collin?" I asked Kim, and Kim grinned at me. Brady was Jared's little cousin who was part of the pack, and Collin was his best friend, and Jared had sort of taken them under his wing just because he felt so incredibly guilty that his little brother had been dragged into this, even if it wasn't his fault. A very Embry attitude towards this.

"Collin asked me for help with a girl the other day!" She squealed. "Not an imprint, but still, I died, from how cute it was." I chuckled softly, pulling onto my street. "Okay, wait, Ro, is that Mr. Cabot's wife?" She asked me, as we pulled into my driveway, and I cursed under my breath, unbuckling my seatbelt as I stopped the car, hard, beside Derrick's. I pulled the keys from the ignition and jumped out, sprinting around my car. Mrs. Lacey Cabot smiled warmly at me as I approached, and I smiled back at her, trying not to let my panic show.

"Rose, my dear, how nice to see you!" She said cheerfully, kissing my cheek and hugging me for a second when I reached her, and I smiled tightly back at her. How was I supposed to hide the boys (who were probably inside my house) without letting on to Mrs. Cabot that they not only didn't have mono but were completely up to visiting. "How are you? I just realized that I haven't had a nice brunch with your mother in the longest time, and I was hoping that I could invite you all to dinner!"

"Oh, that is so sweet of you!" I gushed. "But my mother's visiting her brother in France--at least for another few weeks, so she won't be able to come to dinner." I said graciously, and Kim waved to me, smiling tightly as she crossed from my car to the house, and she slipped in the front door, barely opening the door before she shut it emphatically. God bless Kim Connweller.

But Mrs. Cabot was a professional mother. And would never have left _her_ children alone. So, of course, she felt it necessary to pass judgment on my screwy family.

"She left you _here, alone_, while she visited her brother in France?" Mrs. Cabot demanded, horrified. "_Alone_?" I forced my gracious smile to stay in place, and I heard a thud somewhere in the house--what were those boys _breaking_? "She didn't even _tell_ me! I would have checked on you children, given her updates!" Yes, Mrs. Cabot, because my mother's first reaction to ditching us was 'I better tell the neighbors so they can check on my children.' "My God, Rosie, if you need anything--" she stopped, smoothing down my hair maternally, and I grinned sheepishly at her.

"We're _fine_, Mrs. Cabot, thank you so much, though." I told her. She still looked uncomfortable with the concept, however, so I took a deep breath and continued. "How about we all have dinner on Sunday night?" I offered. "You, me, Derrick, Laura, Devon, and Mr. Cabot." She smiled suddenly, looking delighted, and I tried to keep the smile on my face at the concept of Derrick trying to kill me when he figured out I'd agreed to this for him.

"That is _so perfect_!" Mrs. Cabot cried. She hugged me briefly, and I heard a distant cry of '_Mom', _and Mrs. Cabot glanced towards her house. "Oh, well, Dear, I must be going, but seven o'clock, Sunday, come over!" She grinned at me. "And bring that boy you're always having over--he's Teresa Call's son, right?"

"Yeah, I'll bring Embry if you want." My grin turned more genuine as I imagined Embry whining about his presence. And, this would annoy Mr. Cabot--this was just getting better and better. "Thank you so much--see you on Sunday!" Mrs. Cabot waved grandly and started down my long driveway: I waited for her to fall out of sight before I opened the door of my house and slipped inside, pleased at how warm it was. I dropped my bag by the front table and kicked off my boots as strong arms wrapped around my waist--Embry.

"I'm going to dinner?" He murmured in my ear, and I smirked, turning in his arms and cupping his face. I kissed him lightly before I leaned my forehead against his. "Unfair advantage." He murmured after a moment, and I slipped out of his arms and towards the living room. Derrick and Paul were getting pretty into their game of XBOX 360 Shaun White Snowboarding, and I sank down between them, pleased as I curled up against my twin brother, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Hey Sis," Derrick said cheerfully, and Embry sat down in front of me on the ground, leaning back against my legs. "Everything okay?" I nodded sleepily.

"We're going to dinner with the Cabots Sunday night," I said tiredly, and Derrick groaned.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" He demanded angrily, but I just remained silent.

"Lay off her." Embry ordered as he came in, and he scooped me up from between my friends to sit in one of the arm chairs, pulling me into his lap. I settled there, quite comfortable. Derrick shot us a warning look but remained silent, and I couldn't help but admire how lucky I was I had friends. Embry was, or so my brother claimed, in love with me, Jared and Quil and Paul were friends, Kim and I were friends... it was just nice.

Once everyone found out about Sam's dad maybe being mine, though, would that still be the case?


	10. In Which I Pass Out

"Ro, I'm home," Derrick called as he came in the front door later that night. I was curled up on the couch, a blanket over me, holding the photo of my mom, Sam's Dad, and Derrick and me. Der still had no idea he might have a big brother, and my stomach was trying to kill me from anxiety.

But I was telling him tonight.

The fact of it was, I had to tell Der: we were twins, and my guilt complex was multiplying daily as I tried to keep it from him. But, God, was I scared. And I had no idea how Derrick was going to take it. He might be awesome about it, because sometimes he was pretty good about getting how screwed up our family had made us, but he also had every right to be hurt and angry, and his stupid male ego might drive him to that. "Rose?"

"Living room," I called back, and my brother came in, no shirt, and jumped over the top of the couch, mostly to show off. He frowned at me, looking concerned, and ruffled my hair in a rare show of sibling-y affection.

"You okay?" He asked, and I bit my lip. I was okay. But I really didn't want Derrick to be mad at me for not telling him sooner. And I knew I should have told him sooner. But I was seventeen-years-old, and he was my brother, and I'd only found a little over a week ago. And it wasn't like I didn't have a lot on my mind.

But he was my twin. I should have told him.

"Der, we need to talk." I said slowly, and Derrick straightened up, frowning at me. He was really worried, now.

"What's wrong?" He asked me softly. "Embry didn't do something stupid, did he?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion, and I shook my head quickly, before I hesitated, then handed the photo to him. He frowned at me, not even looking at it, but I just glanced at it, forcing him to follow my gaze.

And then there was silence.

Derrick just stared down at it, blinking. I hugged my legs to my chest, resting my chin on my knees and praying I wasn't about to have my first experience with my brother angrily phasing into a wolf. Derrick just ran his fingers lightly over the photo and then flipped it over, his eyes glued to the date.

"This is a picture of Sam's Dad, our mom, and us." He glanced up at me. "On May 9, 1992." I nodded, chewing on my lip nervously. He pressed his lips together, then looked back down at the photo, flipping it over again so he was looking at the actual photograph. "When'd you find this?"

"On the second." I murmured. Derrick looked up at me, his eyes flashing angrily, but I just stayed still. I deserved this. And if I cried, or freaked out--that would make this about me, which it wasn't. This was about Derrick being allowed to be angry, and Sam being maybe our brother, and this being a freaking shock.

"What the hell took you so long?" Derrick demanded. I pressed my lips together before I sighed.

"I wasn't exactly sure how to tell you." I admitted. "And I'm scared what it's going to do--Sam's angry at Embry and Jake and Jare and Seth and Leah. And I'm Embry's girlfriend and you're Embry's girlfriend's brother and we might be Sam Uley's siblings too." I bit my lip, frowning unhappily, and Derrick just nodded. "I'm so sorry, I really did mean to tell you earlier…" He seemed to recognize I'd hit a breaking point, because he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Who knows?" He asked.

"Embry, Jared, and Kim." I said quietly.

"I get Em, he's your imprint and shit, but what about Jare and Kim?" Derrick asked, and I realized I could actually hear the hurt in his voice. He was _hurt_ that I hadn't told him before Jared and Kim. And I supposed that was understandable. But I was more interested in what an imprint was--I'd heard Emily say it that first night at the Cullens, when this entire world became apparent to me, and now Derrick was saying it.

"What's an imprint?" I asked quietly, and Derrick blinked at me.

"Embry never… told you what an imprint was?" Derrick asked, his voice strangled, and I swallowed. This made me nervous. "But he told you… what we were?"

"Yeah." I said softly. Derrick's eyes flashed as he stood up, dropping the picture on the coffee table. He stalked into the kitchen and _shoved over an armchair_ on his way in there. The chair hit the side table next to it and toppled sideway and forwards, shattering a leg against the wall. I stood up, following him and leaning against the kitchen door jamb. "Care to tell me why you just decided to demolish the arm chair?" I asked disapprovingly, but Derrick ignored me, slamming open the back door and jogging down the back steps: he leapt the last five or so and phased on his way to the ground. My eyes widened as Derrick howled, sprinting into the forest, and I stood at the back door for a moment. I sighed, pulling my phone out of my pocket and dialing Embry's number automatically.

"Rosie!" Quil picked up Embry's phone cheerfully. I pressed a hand to my eyes: I didn't need my boyfriend's best friend, I needed my boyfriend.

"Hey, Q," I said as pleasantly as I could manage. "Can I talk to Em?"

"Eh, in a minute." Quil said, then I heard some chatter in the background. "He's still on his way home here. Wait, Derrick phased? He doesn't have rounds tonight." Quil said to someone in the background, his voice muffled. "Hey, wait, what's he--_holy shit he's attacking Embry_."

"Get him _off_ him!" I shouted through the phone, panic racing through my veins. "Quil, listen to me, you have to go stop them--"

"Embry phased, Rose." Quil came back to the phone, hearing how frantic I was, and making his voice soothing. "It's okay. We can all take a few hits from a protective brother, even though you're the first girl to be an imprint with a brother in the pack--"

"No, Der's actually pissed off, not just being an idiot." I told him hurriedly. "Embry didn't tell me what an imprint was--I still don't know--but it set Derrick off, he killed a chair, he's really angry." Quil cursed under his breath on the other end.

"Em didn't _tell_ you what an imprint was?" Quil sounded incredulous.

"Well, Der was already pretty pissed--I told him something else, and…" I paused, made nervous by the sudden silence on the other end. "Quil?" I heard a howl and I snapped my phone shut, turning on the spot and racing through my house, grabbing my keys from the front table and going to my car. I didn't care if I had to break every driving law in existence, I would get to Embry's faster than I ever had before.

Seven minutes later, I slammed to a stop in Embry's driveway, my cell phone ringing in my pocket as I tore the keys out of the ignition. Emily opened the door as I ran up and hugged me tightly. "Are you okay?" She asked me hurriedly, pulling back to look at me with a nervous gaze, smoothing my hair down, and I just glanced past her, looking for my brother or my boyfriend.

"I am, I am--What about Der and Em?" I glanced up at her. "Derrick attacked Embry?" She nodded, not releasing her hold on my shoulders, and I realized there were tears in her eyes. "Oh, God, they're okay, aren't they?" I asked desperately, and she nodded hurriedly.

"Rosie--Derrick phased feet from you. We weren't sure whether you'd been hurt or not." She said softly, and I nodded once in understanding. She put her arm around my shoulders and led me inside the house, to the living room, where Embry's mother was bandaging her son's arm, her face pale but muttering under her breath angrily. Everyone looked up as I entered, and Embry blinked at me before grinning with relief.

"Oh, thank God," Mrs. Call murmured as she looked up at me, and I smiled a little shakily at her.

"I told you I hadn't hurt her." Derrick muttered unhappily, but I just moved to sit next to Embry, but Derrick, with Sam tensely crouching next to him, sat up straight.

"Don't, Rose." He ordered, and I stopped, glancing at him with a frown.

"Why?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.

"Because a lot of different people need to talk here, and I think Sam gets that right first." Derrick said, his voice calm and quiet. "And Embry hasn't told you everything yet, so he automatically doesn't get priority." I blinked, confused, then glanced at Embry, who was looking heartbroken. I bit my lip--what the _hell_ was going on?

"Alright." I murmured. Sam was fuming in the corner, though, and I bit my lip, looking at him. "I assumed you saw? In the shared consciousness thing?"

"I cannot," He ground out, "Begin to believe that you had _my_ pack--"

"My pack, actually, Sam," Jake corrected softly from the doorway behind me, and I spun around. "But I suppose the sentiment's the same." He looked down at me, his gaze accusatory, and I swallowed any guilt that might have pushed into me. I never owed it to Jake to tell him about the photo. I didn't really owe it to anyone but Sam and Derrick. "You had them keep a secret from me, Rosie. I can't have my pack keeping secrets. It upsets our dynamic. We're brothers."

"Jake." I said quietly. "I've known you since Der and I went back to Mom, so I'm going to be honest: I don't think you're pissed that I kept a secret and had your packmates do the same, I think you're pissed that you didn't see it." I crossed my arms across my chest as I scowled at him. "And by the way, this whole secret thing may be messing with your _pack dynamic_," I put the words in air quotes, using my best skeptical voice, "but this whole werewolf thing is sort of messing with my family and my life. So I get keep a few secrets." Jake was just staring at me, but Kim rose from where she was sitting beside Jared to put her hand on my shoulder. I glanced back at her and she smiled a little, looking proud.

"Nice." She murmured to me, and I just nodded once, before I turned to Sam.

"Okay, if you have anything to say other than 'how dare you mess with my pack,' please, go ahead." I told him seriously, and he just stared at me.

"Why wouldn't you tell me right away?" He asked me quietly, and I just shrugged, keeping my arms crossed over my chest. "I mean… Rose, this changes _so fucking much_."

"Yeah, well, my life's been sort of a FEMA level disaster since you retards reappeared in my life, so I didn't really have the energy to handle my possible half-brother having a panic attack because he might have a brother and a sister." I said quietly. I was being a little aggressive, but I didn't care: I had no idea where my mother was, my brother was acting like an idiot and my boyfriend was apparently lying to me. I wanted answers. Now. "And I was going to tell you. I just had to tell Derrick first, which I did, and then he realized that Embry hadn't told me about imprinting or something, and flipped out." I raised my eyebrows. Sam scowled at me.

"When exactly were you planning to tell me?"

"It's been a week and a half, don't get your panties in a bunch." I said angrily to Sam. "And, by the way, let's just go over the fact that my first actual meeting with you was when you essentially told me to fuck off. Sorry if I'm not _super excited_ about you maybe being my brother."

"Okay, Sam, Rose, Der--I think everyone needs to take a breather." Emily said softly, stepping forward and putting a gentle hand on my arm. I realized that Sam was beginning to shake, and Derrick rose to stand between us, limping a little bit.

"What happened to your leg?" I asked him, and he just rolled his eyes in Embry's general direction. I bit my lip, glancing at Embry, feeling betrayed. He'd hurt my brother? _Derrick hurt him too_, I reminded myself as Mrs. Call taped down a bandage on Embry's arm, straightening up.

"Okay, sweetheart," Mrs. Call said fondly, putting a hand on her son's head. "You're all bandaged up," Behind her, Paul imitated her, and Embry reached out and smacked his head.

"Quit it." He growled at Paul, and Mrs. Call just rolled her eyes in a boys-will-be-boys way before wrapping her arms around me, and I hugged her back, suddenly grateful for the first sight I'd had of the only maternal figure in my childhood for almost a year. I'd missed Mrs. Call hugely, but it wasn't like I could walk up to my ex-best friend's only parent and be like 'hey, my biggest problem in life right now is that your child is actually sort of destroying my life. Sorry.' So I'd sucked it up and dealt with Derrick only as my family.

"Sweetheart, if you ever need anything…" She murmured in my ear, smoothing down my hair, and I nodded. She pulled back and kissed my forehead. "You be careful," She told me, leaving the room, and I swallowed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"So, Embry, got anything to say to my sister?" Derrick asked my boyfriend angrily, and every boy in the room turned in their seats to scowl at Embry, who flinched under their gaze. I backed up a step. What had Embry done to incur the anger of every guy I was friends with?

"What's going on?" I asked softly, and Embry rose shakily. I rushed forward, trying to help, but Embry shook his head.

"We should go somewhere else, talk privately--"

"Sit," I ordered, pushing him back down, and he didn't fight me. He was that weak. I looked around. "Guys, can we please have some privacy?" I asked hopefully, and Derrick scowled but stalked out of the room, followed by the rest of the pack and their respective girlfriends or wives. I waited until everyone was out of the room before I closed the door behind them. I turned back to Embry.

"Ro, remember when I explained to you about werewolves and that tribe and stuff." Embry said after a second. I nodded carefully. "Well, I left out one thing…" He looked pleading, but when I didn't volunteer an opinion on this, he ran his hand through his hair. "There's this thing, called imprinting. It's when a werewolf--he sees some human, and suddenly, his entire world turns around. The imprint becomes the center of gravity, it's--like a soul mate, but almost more intense." I felt my eyes widen. I knew what he was getting at. He wouldn't be bringing it up if it weren't me. "For werewolves--being away from their imprint can ruin their mood, and having their imprint taken from them--like, be hurt or killed or something--can destroy them." He bit his lip, looking at me. "This person, the imprint, is everything. The apocalypse would come, and as long as the imprint survived, the werewolf would be A-okay."

"So it's like falling in love with someone?" I asked, trying to relate it to something knew, but Embry hesitated, before he nodded hesitantly.

"It's like love at first sight, but more legitimate." He bit his lip. "Once you phase for the first time, you can find your imprint at anytime." He sighed. "Remember, the first day I was back at school, after I was out? I took one look at you and I choked--suddenly I _knew_. You were mine." He waited, and I blinked. His voice had taken on a ridiculously possessive tone there, and I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about that--I didn't belong to anyone, but on the other hand, Embry being possessive was sort of… a nice feeling. He cared enough about me to fight for me.

"So, you're…" I murmured after a second, digesting this.

"In love with you." He told me flatly. "Have been for a while. And even before that, I was so close to asking you out before I phased." He shrugged. "But I was way too screwy, I didn't want to drag you into this, werewolves and shit, and last spring we had this big problem with the vampires--I was so scared you would be hurt if I even so much as talked to you." He looked nervous, all the sudden. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't tell you earlier: if I told you when you first called me back that night when you found out what we are, I thought you'd faint or something. Your brother and me were werewolves and all the guys and I didn't want to push you farther." Embry chewed on his lip.

"Okay…" I swallowed.

"It also means you can't… really leave La Push." My heart pounded in my chest as Embry's voice dropped to nearly inaudible as he mumbled the last part. "I mean, you're free to come and go as you please, but I can't leave La Push permanently, and I'm gonna get sort of unpleasant when you're not here." Embry's eyes were burning with regret as he looked up at me, and I bit my lip, panic seizing me. "Unless… you _leave_. Then I'll let you go, I swear it." He sounded distraught at the prospect, and tears jumped to my eyes.

I was trapped here.

It wasn't that I didn't love Embry--I did, at least as a friend if not more--or Derrick or anyone. But my _entire life_, my game plan had been graduate high school with good if not great grades and get the hell out of dodge. Mom had been playing fast and loose with my family my entire life: I had to plan to make it as stable as possible as soon as possible. It was just something I'd always depended on, one of my three constants--Embry, Derrick, and the fact that some day this would end. And maybe, I would have stuck around, had it been a choice.

But now it wasn't it a choice.

Because now Derrick and Embry were here. Forever. And Derrick was my brother, my twin--I could leave him here and move somewhere else and visit and we'd still be twins. But with Embry…Embry was… he was practically the love of my life, if not actually. You couldn't live across the country from someone you were dating, or you could but it was damned difficult.

I wasn't scared of a long distance relationship, though. I was scared because I felt trapped and growing up with no control led to control _issues_.

"Oh." I whispered, and a tear slipped through my defenses, and faster than I could stop him, Embry was standing and wrapping his arms around me, pulling me to him and hugging me tightly, folding himself around me as if he could protect me from everything. I shook my head, though, putting a hand on his chest and pushing: he released me as if I'd burned him. Tears jumped to his eyes, too, but he just let his arms dangle at his sides. "I'm not… I'm not leaving you, I just need time to think--Em, please don't…" I whispered desperately, trying to explain. I needed time to think, I didn't have super powers. I couldn't exactly handle this. Em still looked like I'd torn his heart out of his chest and stomped on it, though, so I put my hands on the side of his face and kissed him, short but intense, before I pulled away. "This isn't the end, I just need to think." I whispered seriously to him, leaning my forehead against his, and he reluctantly nodded slowly, and I pulled away, tears coursing down my face as I stumbled to the door of the living room and tore it open. Everyone was in the kitchen down the hall, but they all saw me, and Emily stood and crossed to me, pulling me into her arms.

"Shh, Rosie, shh." She murmured to me. I felt some of the boys pass me, and Jared put his hand on my back, obviously agreeing to switch spots with Emily silently, because she released me and he put his arm around my shoulders, leading me to the staircase.

"Okay, shh, Ro, it's okay." Jared murmured to me, but the tears wouldn't stop. I'd hurt Embry, and it was already killing me. I hadn't meant to, I just had to think and I knew I wouldn't be able to if I felt trapped--I just needed to know I _had_ a way out, even if I didn't use it.

"Embry," Derrick's growl was audible from the mere feet we were from the door to the living room. "What the fuck did you--"

"Leave him alone, Derrick," Quil said in a shaky voice. "Rose just _left_ him--"

"She's not leaving me." Embry's voice was softer, but I could hear it, because everyone in there shut up to listen to what he had to say. "She just wants time--she's not leaving me though."

"Oh, Thank God." Emily's praise made me sob softly, and Jared just wrapped his arms around me, hugging me more tightly as I sobbed again and again. Jared hesitated before he took a deep breath.

"Guys, we can hear you and _you're not helping_." Jared said in a measured tone, and Derrick popped into the hallway. He glanced at me and cursed under his breath, and hesitated, glancing back at his packmates. My eyes were fluttering now, and when I tried to focus on something, the room kind of spun. "Derrick, _do something_." Jared urged as I sagged against him. "She's passing out." Then Derrick was lifting me up, one arm under my shoulders and one arm under my knees, protectively cradling me against his chest.

"I'm taking Rose home, guys." Derrick said quietly above my head. "I just--I need the night off, I've been ditching her a lot…" I didn't even have the energy to note how the boys seemed worried about me, or how Jake put a hand on my head before someone opened the door for Derrick.

And then I was out cold.


	11. In Which I Try to Smooth Things Over

I woke up not that long later, because my room was still dark, and it was silent outside. I had passed out a little after ten, I supposed--and then my inner calculations stopped as I caught sight of my clock. 2:47. I glanced around my room and studied my brother, who was texting someone on his phone, frowning down at it as he leaned back in the chair he'd pulled up beside my bed. He was resting his feet on the bottom of my mattress, relaxing, and when he looked up at me, he put the phone down beside him. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he picked up a baseball from his lap, and began to flick it back and forth, from one hand to another across his lap. He did that, just sitting there, just watching me, and I turned to glance at the clock once more, before I smirked sleepily, turning on my side to look at him properly.

"You know, I think watching your twin sister while she sleeps qualifies as stalking." I murmured tiredly, and he didn't even crack a smile, his hands dropping to his lap as he continued to maul the baseball. I sat up, stretching my arms above my head, and Derrick just watched me silently. I dropped my arms and stared back at him.

"You okay?" He asked me after a few moments, his voice solemn, and I blushed a little, but nodded, ducking my head, my eyes on my comforter. I picked at it for a few seconds before I looked up at him. He needed an answer.

"Yeah," I told him quietly, glancing at him. "I'm sorry, I just… it's just a lot, you know? All the time." I watched Derrick, who just glared down at the baseball in his hands. It was actually becoming misshapen now. I would have to test the boys' strength, one of these days. I'd never seen a baseball truly get beat up this way before.

"You scared me." Derrick admitted softly. He glanced up at me, looking really, really concerned. "Never seen you like that before--even when Embry phased and we didn't know what was going on, you didn't pass out." He sighed. He glanced around my darkened room. "Please don't do it again?" I felt a sudden surge of sympathy for Derrick.

The fact of it was, Derrick never had to take care of me. I just wasn't one of those kids--Derrick and I were both sort of fully functional, and sometimes I had to take care of him, but that's only because those 27 minutes that I was older than him: they _mattered_. I took them seriously. Derrick was my twin, but also my sort of little brother. And I wasn't supposed to be the one being taken care of.

He was.

"It wasn't like I planned it, but I won't." I told him quietly. We sat in silence for a minute, before he sat forward in his chair, putting his feet back on the ground and his elbows on his knees.

"So. Did you leave Embry or not? Because I'm beyond confused." He asked tiredly, and I sighed heavily, running a hand through my hair as I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

"I'm not leaving him. I just… need it to be a choice, you know?" I asked him softly. "I'm just…" I bit my lip, tilting my head a little as I looked at Derrick. He would understand. "Look, you and me never had any control--either Mom was dictating how our lives were going, or Family Court, or Walt. Everything was always changing and no one ever bothered to talk to us about it, and it sucked but I don't begrudge any of the people who did that. It's…not really their fault, in the truest sense of the word. They were trying their hardest, and we were little kids, it was natural to not really trust that we got the full extent of the situation, even though we actually did." I ran a hand down my face, scrubbing at it irritated. I was getting off topic. "Anyway, I just need to make sure I don't run into this thing head first. I mean..." My voice drifted off as I wondered whether saying this to my semi-protective brother was a good idea. "Embry's in love with me, Der. He... at least thinks he wants to _marry_ me." I shrugged uncomfortably. "Marry, have children, the whole deal. With me."

"Yep." Derrick agreed. He paused, watching me to see if I had anything more to add, pursing his lips. "You're doing the right thing." He said, after a moment, his voice reassuring. "It's better to work this out now then try to deal with it behind closed doors and pray no one finds out." He sighed, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest. "You should go back to sleep, Ro, you obviously need the rest."

"Eh, I'm fine." I said vaguely, and as I began to get up, Derrick put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down to the mattress. I raised my eyebrows.

"Rosie, I don't like having you be sick, okay?" Derrick said confrontationally, his voice rising a little with his nervousness at admitting a weakness, and I smiled sympathetically at him. "It freaks me out." He admitted after a second. "So get some rest, get better, and I can stop having this bedside vigil thing." Derrick said seriously, and I grinned half-heartedly, but laid back down. Derrick stayed put, and after I stared at him for a second, I turned over, and closed my eyes. I was asleep before a full minute had passed.

---

"You're sure you're okay?" Quil asked me anxiously the next day as we stood at Caribou Coffee. I laughed softly, running a hand through my hair. I'd skipped school, sleeping until eleven and having Derrick call me in sick. Now it was one in the afternoon and Quil and I were getting coffee. This was nice.

"I am sure." I told him for the hundredth time, but I wasn't too bothered by it. I actually thought it was sort of sweet that Quil was so worried about me.

"Because you seriously freaked everyone out. I mean, Em was sort of insane." Quil continued tactlessly, and I sobered immediately, straightening up as I passed my debit card to the cashier, who swiped it and handed it back to me. I tucked it in my wallet, turning back to Quil, and he offered me a rueful smile. "Hey, I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I didn't even think about it--I've never talked to you when he was taboo." I nodded my understanding, moving to the pickup counter and studying the design there mindlessly: that wasn't what I was worried about.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" I asked softly, looking up at Quil, my eyes burning with my intensity, and he nodded reluctantly. "Embry. What was he like when... between when he phased and I found out about y'all's extra chromosome?" I kept my voice quiet, but Quil's gaze still nervously swept the area around us before he looked back at me.

"He was a mess." Quil said frankly. "He imprinted on you when he came back to school but by then the damage had been done and Derrick was about ready to kill anyone who looked at you weird." I nodded slowly. "But... look, Ro, I've known you for forever. Which I think gives me the right to say this." Quil looked straight at me firmly, seeming resigned to the fact that what he was about to say actually held the capacity to hurt me and ready to reap the consequences. "I don't think you want to know what Embry was like those months--I think you want to know what he's like now and you don't think you have the right to ask. So. Embry, last night, when you passed out? Never seen him like that before. He was almost in tears, restraining himself from going to you." He sighed. "He loves you, Rosie. He'll take whatever piece of you you're willing to give--whether you just want another brother, or a best friend. But were it his choice? He'd marry you tomorrow." Quil smiled shallowly, but his gaze told me he meant every word he was saying. "You're everything to him, Ro. And as his best friend on the planet, I am _begging_ you to not break his heart. Because if you do end up leaving him--I'm not sure how that'll play out. But I know he will never be the same."

---

_I've gotta do this_. I reminded myself starkly as I stood on Sam and Emily Uley's front porch that Saturday, knocking. _I've gotta. I can't just leave this hanging. Not with everything going on with Embry._ I held my breath as I heard footsteps inside, and then my potential half-brother opened the door, a grin on his face that faded as he met my gaze. I crossed my arms uncomfortably across my chest. "Sam." I said quietly. "We need to talk."

"Agreed." The twenty-one-year-old swung open the door and I walked inside the now-familiar home, going to his living room. I folded my legs underneath me and sank onto his couch, and Sam sat on the ottoman of an armchair perpindicular to the couch. "You feeling better?" He asked me softly. I nodded, uncomfortable with how _nice_ Sam suddenly seemed. From what I'd heard, Sam had absolutely no reason on the planet to be nice to me. Jake had started the destruction of his pack, and the boy who intended to marry me had furthered that destruction. I was, by almost every definition, the enemy according to Sam Uley. "So I guess you want to talk about Dad."

"I just... want to make sure that this drama doesn't screw over the pack." I said softly, running a hand through my hair. "I have no idea whether you're my brother, and we can't run a DNA test because that risks revealing your 24th chromosomal pair. So barring asking your father point-blank, which I don't want to force you to do, we have no way of figuring this out." I chewed on my lip nervously. "And the pack is too involved in my life now to just let this sit around and get more and more awkward. So I think we just have to... leave it."

Sam watched me seriously, his gaze probing, and I held his brown-eyed gaze, keeping my head up. I had nothing to lose--this was the best way to protect everyone. The pack couldn't suffer from this distraction when Der and Sam were acting weirdly around each other, and I couldn't handle it if they got hurt because they were distracted by something I hadn't settled.

"You really don't have any interest in knowing who your father is?" Sam asked me quietly, and I sighed, shaking my head a little.

"Not particularly." I admitted.

"That..." Sam fell silent. "I don't believe you." I blinked.

"Why?" I demanded in confusion.

"Because... I mean, my family's the definition of screwier than all hell. But I still keep them around for the hell of it." Sam said, shrugging a little. "I wanna kill my mom ninety percent of the time, but I can't not have her over for the holidays. I mean... God, Ro. It doesn't really even seem healthy that you don't care." I chuckled softly. "I'm serious, Rose. Everyone cares--at least a little--who their parents are. Our parents are a part of us, half of us...make us who we are." I shook my head once in a resigned rejection of that idea. I'd never had this conversation to the depths I was having this conversation now, but I had thought about it pretty extensively. It was Nature vs. Nurture--and in my opinion, Nurture won.

"My mom's crazy, Sam, and I know you know more than I'd ever care to tell you because you've been in Derrick's head." I said carefully, choosing my words. "My uncle's nice but not here. Hasn't been since I was eight." I pursed my lips. "So missing a parent is missing something I've never had. It's always been Derrick and I against the world. Embry's always been important to me, Jake, Jare, Quil, even Paul, the jackass, played major parts in my childhood. But Der is my only family in the actual sense of the word." I shrugged. "I don't mean it to sound the way it does. But it's true."

"That is the most ridiculously pathetic thing I've ever heard." Sam told me sadly, sitting up straighter.

"Eh, it worked out." I said, flapping a hand at Sam. "Der and I turned out okay, save that gene." I grinned half-heartedly at Sam. "Thank your dad for that, next time you see him." My smile dropped, and Sam just stared at me.

"I understand you're willing to just... let this sit, Rosie." Sam said quietly, looking down at his hands, which were twisting themselves in his lap. "But if you and Derrick are my little brother and sister, then... I have responsibilities to you guys. Even if you aren't going to hold me to them, these responsibilities are present and I can't just leave you guys with your mom when she... hurt you." My stomach turned over. This was what I'd _always_ been worried about, when involving non-Mehtas in the family dynamic present between Derrick, my mother and myself. It didn't look right from the outside. But Mom was physically sick. Mom was _actually physically_ sick. Her brain was wired differently than everyone else without bipolar disorder. You couldn't blame sick people for being sick: it wasn't their fault. So even though me having to skip school to take of my mom occurred sometimes, even though she'd hit me before--it wasn't her fault. Just sort of fate's. "I'd be willing to get custody, you'd be able to live here or still at your house--I just don't want your mother hurting you. And a step towards that is not having a legal obligation to her."

"She's sick." I said shortly, my eyes narrowing. "Sam, I know it doesn't make sense to you, but she is sick and family takes care of sick family." I shrugged, raising an eyebrow in a silent challenge: could he fight that concept?

"Yeah, but, Rosie," Sam began, sounding irritated. "Family--it's symbiotic. You take care of your mom and she takes care of you--that's the way it should work." Sam scowled. "And I'm not going to lie, from what I know, I've never once seen her give a damn about you and Derrick. Just seen her suck the life force out of both of you."

"Sam!" I protested, rising to my feet defensively. "My mother cares about us--she's just _crazy_--"

"How?" Sam shouted over me, cutting me off. "How, Ro? At what point in your childhoods has your mother ever done something that hasn't benefitted her? She doesn't care about you, Rosie!" I slapped him angrily, before I turned around and stormed towards the door. I slammed out the house and into the hummer parked in their driveway. I got in my car and pulled out my cell phone, glaring angrily down at it and resisting the urge to call Embry. When I talked to Embry again, he deserved to have nice Rosie on the phone, not fighting Rosie.

So I dropped my phone in the empty cupholder and began the drive home.


	12. In Which Embry is High As a Kite

"Rose!" Jared said angrily, and I turned my head to the other side tiredly, pulling my covers up around my face. Why was Jared in my house when I was sleeping? Why was he trying to wake me up? "Rose Mehta--"

It'd been a week and a half since I'd met with Sam to discuss our not-so-happy family, and I still hadn't made up with Embry, though we'd chatted a few times: I was still just trying to hash out the concept that I was spending the rest of my life in a tiny town I'd spent my entire life trying to get out of. But it was getting better: I intended on making up with Embry sooner rather than later.

"G'way." I ordered in a slurred voice, turning my face from his general direction. "Sleeping time." I heard Jared chuckle shortly, but then he grabbed my blankets and hauled them away from me, letting the cold air hit my body. My eyes snapped open into a glare as I sat bolt upright, suddenly ready to kill. "Jared David Gentry." I hissed in a perfectly clear voice. "What the hell are you--"

"We need your help." Jared said quickly, and I heard the undercurrent of panic in his voice and saw a twinge of pain cross his face, and I squinted, my glare dropping, as I ran a tired hand through my hair before pulling it up into a messy bun. I raised my eyebrows and nodded once for him to go on, and Jared ran a miserable hand down his face. "Embry got hurt running around out there, and someone needs to calm him down: we don't wanna freak out his mom, though, so you seem like the next best thing." Jared's voice was rushed, and I realized that he didn't sound angry--he sounded _scared_. He was freaking out.

"How the hell did he get hurt?" I demanded as I climbed out of bed.

"There's a vampire passing through." Jared said angrily. "The Cullens claim they don't know anything but even Jake doesn't believe it." My heart fluttered in my chest as I scowled vaguely at the idea that the Cullens were lying to us.

I flew down the stairs and froze at the entrance to my living room: on my couch, my already eighteen-year-old boyfriend was unconscious, his left leg gory and disgusting with blood, and his left arm was clearly broken. He had a large bump on his temple, and his cheek was swollen and red. Embry was moving a lot--confusedly, though, without direction, and his eyes were wide and glaze over. I would have bet that "Em," I murmured softly as I crossed the room, ignoring the boys and crouching beside Embry, putting a hand on the unhurt side of his face. "Embry, baby?" I asked softly, and his wildly darting eyes settled on my face, filled with panic. But the moment his gaze met mine, his panic and thrashing died down.

"Rose?" He asked hoarsely, and I smiled, pressing my lips to his momentarily before pulling back, smoothing down his hair.

"I need you to hold still so we can fix you up." I said softly, but Embry was already getting restless again, and I frowned. "You moving because it hurts?" I asked softly, and Embry shook his head minutely, but I saw, when his gaze met mine, the discomfort. "Hey, babe, I can help you but only if you tell me what's up." I told him seriously. "I want to help you."

"My leg." He murmured after a minute, and I glanced sharply at the boys. Edward Cullen, his expression stony and clear of emotion, pushed through the crowd and dropped his bag on the floor, rifling through it for something, and I just glared at him.

"You know what you're doing?" I asked suspiciously. "Isn't your dad the doctor?"

"I've been to medical school twice." Edward said in a monotone.

"And I'm going to take a random stab at something like four times for Carlisle, right?" I asked him quickly. Edward cocked an eyebrow. "Edward, I know I'm being a brat, but this--" His face softened, and he nodded once, glancing at Jacob.

"Jake, find him?" Edward requested quietly, and Jake raised his eyebrows in surprise, but I turned back to Embry as Edward injected something into Embry's thigh.

"What's that?" I asked Edward softly, not moving my eyes from my boyfriend's face.

"A pain killer." Edward said easily, and I sighed softly, closing my eyes as I pressed my forehead to Embry's shoulder, trying to shut out the pain and panic that were trying to strangle me: I could handle this. Mom had never been this bad but she'd had her crappy moments--I'd gotten through these and I could get through this. Embry needed me and I couldn't fall apart on him.

I lifted my head to press a kiss to his lips again, and Embry pulled away to groan in pain, grabbing his bad arm with his good one, and I smoothed down his hair. "Em, baby, concentrate on me and not on the pain. Edward gave you something, just hold on a little bit longer." Embry blinked up at me blearily, and Edward was suddenly beside me, easily bandaging Embry's arm.

"Rose." Embry breathed softly, reaching out with his good arm to cup my cheek, stroking my cheek bone, and I put my hand over his, turning my head to kiss his palm. "You look worried." He breathed, but I could tell from his face that he wasn't really all there--he hadn't connected my concern to his injured state, possibly because he hadn't quite realized he was injured.

I still chuckled haltingly, though, tears jumping to my eyes.

"Well my boyfriend's kind of lying on my couch bleeding all over the place." I explained to him softly, and he blinked before he grinned, and his head slid around the back of my head to the back of my neck, and he pulled my face down to his, kissing me. I pulled away with a shy smile, but I raised my eyebrows quizzically: I was always up for kissing Embry, don't get me wrong, but this one seemed like it had a reason behind it.

"You called me your boyfriend." He explained after a moment, and I stared at him. I blinked once, then another mistimed chuckle worked it's way up my throat while my brother clapped me on the back with a soft chuckle of his own.

"You idiot." Quil said, an exhausted grin unfurling on his face.

"You're a retard." Paul agreed behind me, but I could hear his delight that Embry was alert enough to notice subtleties like what I called him and the argument we'd had.

"But I'm Rosie's boyfriend." Embry disagreed in a sing-song voice, and I sat back on my ankles, grinning a little. "So I did _something_ right."

"Embry, I'm going to give you a little piece of advice." Edward said in his customary monotone as he began to wrap gauze around the top of the gash in Embry's thigh. "Stop talking."

"Rosie, Rosie, Rosie." Embry sang softly. "Guess what?" I raised my eyebrows, smiling a little. "I _love _painkillers_."_ He paused, looking thoughtful. Or, at least, you know--as thoughtful as a half-wolf boy can look when he's flying high. "And you. I love you." Embry blinked again. "When that crazy vampire started slicing up my leg I knew I loved you. And I was thinking about how sad I was when you said you just needed to think--what does that mean, anyway?" I closed my eyes, dropping my chin to my chest as I took a deep breath.

"That's enough, Embry." Derrick murmured quietly. "She gets the message."

"No, s'okay." I murmured, glancing back and up at the guys around me with a weak smile. "I hate to ask, but can I have a second with Em? I know it's pointless, but…" Derrick nodded instantly, grabbing Quil by the arm and forcibly dragged him from the room. Paul followed with Sam, both sulking as usual, and then Jake and Jared, the latter of which squeezed my shoulder supportively as he walked from the room. And then it was just Edward, Embry and me. And I wasn't gonna asked Edward to leave when he was obviously helping Embry.

"Everyone left." Embry said mournfully, looking back to the door. "Come back everyone!"

"They will in a sec," I told him soothingly, putting a hand on his bare chest and swallowing nervously. "Okay, Embry Call," I began. "I realize that you are so past flying high that you might not remember the speech I'm about to make, but this has to happen now." I smoothed down his hair, forcing him to keep focusing on me, and his gaze turned more serious. "I love you, babe. What happened, back at your house--that was just… look, I'm screwed up."

"No you're not…" He interjected softly, reaching to tuck a few stray stands of hair behind my ear, and I smiled a little at him.

"Gimme a sec, let me get this out." I reprimanded softly. "My dad's nonexistent, my mom's insane, and my uncle would rather supply us with most of his annual income than show up for Thanksgiving dinner. It's just me and Derrick and we're a little damaged from that, and I was looking at this wrong." I chewed on my lip. "I just… I felt trapped, but that wasn't right. I'm not trapped. You're here, and Derrick's here, and God do I hope my mom will show up at some point." I rambled, but I stopped myself and collected my thoughts. "Okay, my point is, I'm choosing you. Even though I could have spent my entire goddamned high school career talking to people instead of studying," Embry grinned, "I don't want to go away anymore. I just want you."

"Well good." Embry said in a pleased voice. "Because as it turns out, I want you too." I chuckled a little.

"You're so high." I said, amused. Embry blinked before he just beamed sunnily up at me, and I rose to my feet. "I'll go tell the guys to come back in--"

"Tell them to stand down." Embry interrupted, still looking vaguely pleased. "Because everybody was mad. That I didn't tell you about the Imprinting thingy, I mean." He paused, but I'd gotten a second idea of just how stoned he was as he called imprinting "the imprinting thingy". "And they were right to be mad. But now you're not made so they can't be either." He pouted, and I laughed softly, bending to brush my lips across his forehead, brushing a fringe of hair back from his face, before I left the room. I shut the doors to my living room carefully behind me, turning to face the boys with a tight smile. Derrick and Jared and Quil were leaning against the wall facing the room, and Paul and Jake and Sam were sitting in the arm chairs on each side of the foyer.

"You two kiss and make up yet?" Paul asked distractedly, typing something out on his phone, and I smirked, but nodded. Paul seemed pretty unbothered by the drama that had been rocking my world. Of course, had he shown concern, I would have been very, very worried.

"Indeedy." I said pleasantly, leaning back against the door as my smirk turned into a small, self-satisfied smile. "And once Edward's finished wrapping him up, I think we should all play with stoned Embry." My words were just a suggestion, but the boys around me grinned in anticipation. Jared crossed to me and hugged me against his side.

"I'm game." Jared agreed. "Guys?"

"Um, duh." Paul said in his best imitation of a teenage girl's voice, and I burst into laughter with the guys, suddenly relieved.

I wasn't alone in this. I had the guys and I had Derrick. And best off? I had Embry.


	13. In Which Janet Marren Calls

"Don't get that!" I ordered the guys as the phone began to ring, tearing my jeans out of my dresser and stepping into them.

"Why?" Quil called back, sounding confused.

"Because the only people who--" The phone stopped ringing abruptly, as I buttoned my jeans, and I glared at the door: there had only been two rings, which meant one of the boys had picked up. Dammit. The only two people who called early in the morning were Uncle Walt and social services.

"Hello?" Sam asked as he picked up, and I glared at my door as I tugged on a sweatshirt. I opened my door and stormed down the stairs, ready to kill my possible half-brother, but as Sam turned white and Jared and Quil, who were standing next to him, straightened, exchanging looks, I rolled my eyes and held out my hand for the phone. Whoever it was had scared them, but I'd gotten enough sketchy calls in my lifetime from my depressed mother or frantic uncle or social services that at this point, nothing shocked me. Sam passed the phone to me wordlessly, and I fixed him with a glare as I pressed the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I said pleasantly

"Hi, this is Janet Marren from the Washington Department of Family Services." A woman said, and I straightened up, brushing past Sam. "This is a follow up call regarding a tip we got regarding the well-being of two minors--Derrick and Rose Mehta." I leaned against my window, looking out at the snow-covered ground around my home and trying to fathom a way out of this. There had once before been a tip about me and Der--and that had been back when Mom had her first break from reality, back when we were just little kids. "May I speak to Shannon Mehta?" I bit my lip.

"She's already at work." I lied, keeping my tone pleasant. I didn't sound half-way old enough to be my mother, I'd figured out over the years, and it wasn't really even worth trying. "This is Rose Mehta, though, and I could talk to you."

"I need to talk to your mother to make an appointment to come see you." She told me in a determined voice, and I turned to face the boys, meeting Quil's gaze worriedly. "So may I have her work number?" The woman's voice held a decent amount of skepticism, and I wondered if she held the file that told her my mother had only had one job in the last ten years at which she'd been late and inattentive when present until they'd fired her.

"I don't actually have her work number--I could have her call you back, though?" I asked, trying to sound as innocent and suburban as I possibly could.

"Rose, you don't have your mother's work number?" The woman asked, her voice sounding more compassionate now. She felt bad for me--she was three steps ahead of our conversation. "What about in emergencies? Do you have someone to call in case of an emergency?" There was a pause and a distant sound of papers being shuffled. "Would your uncle have it?"

"Uncle Walt? No." I said confusedly, biting my lip. I waved at Quil and caught his attention. _Get Derrick and Embry_, I mouthed at him, and Quil nodded hurriedly, grabbing Sam and dragging him out of the living room. Jared stayed, leaning against the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, looking slightly menacing.

"Well then what do you do if you have an emergency?" The woman pressed.

"Call Uncle Walt." I said, turning back to the window. "He's our emergency contact, right?" I continued, feeling stronger in this sudden stance.

"Well, yes, but he lives in Atlanta, sweetheart, that's a six hour plane ride." She paused, and I bristled at the _sweetheart_ thing: this woman was not my mother nor was she looking our for my best interests. She was just trying to take Derrick and I and put us anywhere but home. "What would you do if you needed to be driven to the hospital?"

"The neighbors would drive us, and Der and I can both drive." I told her, then I forced a smile into my voice. "Chances are we won't both be hurt at the same time." There was a pause, and I swallowed, feeling like I was being tested on material I hadn't yet learned. "Mrs. Marren, she'll just call you back."

"I'll just stop by, how about that?" She asked cheerfully, and Jared and I exchanged looks of panic. I ran a nervous hand through my hair. "Tomorrow, three o'clock?"

"I won't be home from school till three thirty." I told her in what I hoped was a confident voice. I used to have a whole variety of convincing voices--because the real trick with social services is catching them before they got to the house, on the phone--but it'd been so long since the state of Washington's Department of Family Services had felt a need to check in on us that I hadn't been keeping in practice. "And Mom won't be home from work until--" What was a reasonable time that was out of her work day? "Until around nine thirty."

"Rose." Miss Marren's voice was stern, already reprimanding even though she had no idea whether I'd done anything wrong. "Tell your mother to be home tomorrow at three thirty--I will talk to her boss if she so wishes, to give her an excuse, but unless she's actually physically there, I will not believe her presence, Rose, and will have to take you and Derrick into protective custody and charge her with Child Neglect, among other things." I felt the blood drain from my face. The woman continued more gently, now, sounding more like she thought I was an abused child, as had every other social worker Derrick and I had ever been assigned. "We got a tip, Rose, about your mother not being home for a while, and regarding injuries you sustained a few weeks ago." She paused. "I understand that you were treated by a friend's father, a Dr. Carlisle Cullen?" I closed my eyes, feeling weak at the knees as I pressed my hand to my forehead. This was bad. This was so, so bad. "We'll be asking him for an assessment of your injuries, Rose." I sank down against the wall, my knees sliding up to my chest as I moved my hand from my forehead and stared at Jared, panic crushing my lungs. "And if it comes to it, we'll ask him to testify."

"Alright." I said in a small voice, before something occurred to me. "Miss Marren, may I have the name of the person who called in the tip?"

"Rose, they were doing you a favor, sweetheart." Oh God, Miss Marren had already decided that I was abused. Oh, dear. "Please don't--"

"May I just have their name, please?" I asked tightly.

"A Mr. Richard Cabot." She paused. "He told me that your mother might have gone to France for an extended period of time, but evidently, that's not true." _Dammit_. I'd forgotten my own excuse, the lie I'd told to protect my family.

It was all over.

"We also got a tip from Mr. Edward Cullen and Mr. Samuel Uley." I felt the bottom of my stomach drop out as tears jumped to my eyes. "Mr. Cullen's was more detailed about the injuries, I believe his father is the doctor who treated you?"

"I've got to go." I whispered to the woman, my voice high and tight, shutting off the call before I could burst into tears on the phone, and then I took a shaky breath, leaning my head back against the wall and staring at Jared.

"Rose…"

"I'm going to kill them." I murmured. "Jare. This is a disaster."

"A little bit, yeah." There was a pause, and then I got up, a sudden destination popping into my head.

"Uh, where are you going?" Jared demanded, sounding nervous. "I know you're pissed off--and you have every right to be--" He added as I shot him a death glare, "but this is a bad idea, Ro."

"Tell the guys I'm at the Cullens." I told him with a scowl, picking up my keys from the front table and slamming the door shut behind me. I stormed out to my car, getting in and shutting the door with one fluid motion. I jammed the car keys into the ignition and tore off towards the Cullens as five large wolves emerged in my driveway. They shadowed me the entire way to the Cullens, but I ignored them, far too angry to care enough to offer them a ride.

I slammed to a stop at the end of the Cullens' driveway and jumped out of my car, leaving my keys in the ignition, and the boys, with only jeans or shorts on, all of them, came out of the woods as Edward and Bella Cullen emerged from their house.

"Edward, what the _hell_ were you thinking?" I shouted at the vampire, and Embry ran forward to stop me before I grabbed him, catching me halfway across the yard. He wrapped his arms around me from behind, but I just struggled against him, biting my lip as I tried not to cry. "I know you hate the wolves but _seriously_? _Seriously_?"

"What did Edward do?" Derrick demanded, putting himself straight in front of me as I lashed out against Embry: Derrick caught my wrists and held me still, meeting my gaze. "Rose. What. Did. Edward. Do."

"_He called social services." _I told Derrick, tears bursting forth finally. "The woman's stopping by for a visit tomorrow after noon and unless she finds Mom at the house--which she will _not_ by the way--Mom's being charged with child neglect." Derrick stared at me, trying to process this information, and I couldn't blame him: this was our apocalypse. Our world ended as social services moved in--we didn't even really have a contingency plan. Just the concept that when Mom was gone, we were too.

"Derrick, your mother was hurting your sister. You can't tell me you didn't want to do _something_." Edward said, suddenly beside us with his vampire speed, and I turned my darkened scowl on him.

"Edward, _shut up_!" I shouted at him. "You don't know _everything_, even if you can read minds: I don't go into foster care! I go to _Atlanta, Georgia_!" Embry was releasing me, suddenly. I heard the famliar rip and howl behind me and I didn't even bother to turn around, because this was what happened when the boys got upset, and I just glared tearfully at Edward as my boyfriend had his own, lupine breakdown behind me. "I go all the way across the country, you bastard." I hissed at him. "You've taken away the _one thing_ that was working for me: Embry." Derrick jerked away to phase as well, and Edward, for once in his life, was left speechless. Bella was standing on the deck, her gaze piercing me, but I just looked up at her and glared, tears still in my eyes. "You have ruined my life."

Edward looked slightly worried about this. "No, your mother--"

"My mother did a pretty good damn job of screwing me over, it's true." I hissed at him. "But she let me build a life here and she _knew_ that I couldn't get along without Embry and his mother and you just took them away from me. So please, stay the fuck away from my family, and my friends, because I think you've done enough damage." I pushed away from him, turning back to the car, and Sam ran after me, stopping me with a touch on my arm, but I turned to him. "_Samuel Uley get the fuck off of me. I would rather move to Atlanta than move in with your sorry ass after what you said about my mother and after what you did."_ I turned back to my car and got in, slamming the door shut behind me. I felt the familiar feeling of winning an argument fill me: unfortunately, that wasn't enough this time.

About halfway back to La Push, I pulled over to the side of the road because I couldn't see out my windshield through my tears.


	14. In Which It All Comes Crumbling Down

The next day at school was impossible.

Derrick and I were walking around in the kind of haze that I had to imagine accompanies survivors of some sort of terrible accident: suddenly everything else is irrelevant. Who cares about taking notes in science class? We're about to removed from our home by the State of Washington and our mother is about to have an arrest warrant out for her for child abuse.

After school, for the first time this year, Der and I went home without any of the pack or their imprints. There would have been no point anyway, since Janet Marren was coming at 3:30, and Derrick and I, despite our lack of experience with this particular aspect of social services, were well aware that having lots of friends over when the woman came to pick us up would only enforce that we were just kids who were just going to continue to be irresponsible.

Derrick and I packed bags for a few nights of clothes, and then we sat on the steps, not even bothering to dress up the disaster that had become our lives. This part hadn't exactly been discussed--the how to tell Miss Marren that Mom was gone, thing--but we had both wordlessly come to a kind of agreement that there was no point in trying to fake it. You couldn't fake the existence of a person. It was why, so often, social services had to show up at the house like this to get to the bottom of anything.

Miss Marren pulled up at 3:30 on the dot, getting out of her Chevy Tahoe with an apologetic smile. She was in her early thirties, if I had to guess, with sandy blond hair which I was pretty sure she died, because her skin was only a few shades lighter than my own, though she was African-American where I was Indian. She was several inches shorter than me--maybe only five feet, three inches tall to my own six feet, and where I was sort of thin, she was strongly built--not chubby, at all, but well-muscled where I didn't have any muscle tone, pretty much at all.

"Rose and Derrick, I presume?" She asked, and I nodded as we both stood up. Derrick brushed off his pants, looking like he was being led to guillotine, and I just shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I'm so glad we could make time to meet like this." She told us cheerfully, holding out her hand for us to shake, and I shook it, keeping my face expressionless. Derrick just smiled tightly at her, shoving his hands in his back pockets. "So, not to be rude, but I must get to the point. Where's your mother?" I sighed heavily and looked at Derrick, who just looked back at me, before he glanced up at the sky as if up to God, then back to Miss Marren, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We have no idea."

---

"Walter Mehta," Walter answered his phone professionally three hours later, and Derrick and I traded looks over the speaker phone we were sitting on either side of. Derrick and I were sitting in the Forks Police Station, and had been for some time. When we'd first gotten here, the Chief of Police (and, by the way, there were only two police officers so this wasn't absolutely necessary) had taken our statements, but then it'd been awkward because he was obviously not okay with our mother's living arrangement with us, and then _he'd_ left to file the missing persons report, and Miss Marren had made a couple of calls. And now Derrick and I had begged ourselves into calling Walt before she did, or at least introducing the idea.

"Hi Walt," I said in an awkward tone, running a tired hand through my hair.

"Rosie?" Walt asked confusedly. "Why does my caller ID say the Forks Police Department is calling me?"

"Well, we are calling from one of their phones…" Derrick said slowly, obviously trying to kill time, and I could practically here my mother's little brother roll his eyes on the other end of the phone. "But before you go there, we weren't arrested or anything."

"Well, that's nice." Walt said, his voice kind of irritated. "But then what are you doing there?" Walt always was good at seeing through whatever BS we were trying to feed him. And Derrick and I weren't even really trying, here.

"Mom's gone." I said tiredly, putting my face in my hands. There was a few seconds of silence before I heard Walt sigh shortly over the speaker phone.

"When you say gone…?" Walt didn't even show his surprise, if he felt it, and I took comfort from that: he'd prepared for this, probably, even though Derrick and I hadn't.

"She ditched on September 10th." Derrick told him quietly, sounding exhausted. "She flipped out on Ro, and hurt her, and then…" Derrick glanced at me, obviously trying to keep the pack out of this particular sequence of events, especially since it wasn't like the entire world knew there were a bunch of teenage boys who could turn into wolves at the drop of a hat. "And then ditched."

"You guys have been on your own for _two months_?" Walter demanded. It sounded so much longer when you said that, compared to what had happened. "How have you guys… I mean… Jesus, guys, you could have called me." Walt said softly, and I uncovered my face to look up at Miss Marren, who was standing behind Derrick and me. She just met my gaze evenly.

"Well, yes, they should have." Miss Marren jumped in for a minute. "Hi Mr. Mehta, I'm Janet Marren, the social worker that picked up your niece and nephew this afternoon following three tips regarding their safety." She paused. "I'll cut straight to the chase here, Mr. Mehta, your niece and nephew have been on their own for two months and are not yet at an age where the state allows that to happen, so until April, they'll be needing a legal guardian." She paused again. "They'll also need to be available to stand witness in the event their mother is found and a trial date is set."

"Miss Marren, let's take this one thing at a time: Shannon is going to be arrested?" Walter asked slowly.

"Shannon Mehta has been formally charged with at least two counts of child endangerment, one count of child abuse, and two counts of child neglect." Miss Marren told my uncle.

"I have to warn you, Miss Marren, my sister suffers from bipolar disorder and doesn't always take her medication…" Walt said quietly. "If and when she's found, any decent lawyer will have a very good case for not guilty by reason of mental defect."

"I realize this, Mr. Mehta, but we're still going to find and try her." Miss Marren responded persistently. "And aside from that, her children need a legal guardian. According to our records, you were their guardian from ages four through seven, correct? While their mother was treated at a mental health facility?" I raised my eyebrows: this was the nicest way I'd ever heard anyone refer to what had happened when Derrick and I had been four.

"Yes, but…" Walter began, then fell silent, and I straightened up. This didn't sound good. "Miss Marren, I love my niece and nephew, but I have a more demanding job, now, and a fiancee. I can't just fly across the country to take care of them." I felt tears burn in my eyes as a lump rose in my throat. No. Walt wasn't doing this.

"Walt." Derrick choked out, scowling at the phone as his hands clamped down on the metal table. I eyed it nervously: Derrick wasn't about to bend it in half or something, right? Because he _could_. "What the hell are you doing?" I looked at my brother, who was shaking, and I prayed to whatever gods may have been listening that my brother wasn't about to phase.

"Derrick, Rosie, listen to--" Walt began shakily, the over-confident tone to his voice that bad poker players had when they were trying to convince the rest of the table to fold without them needing to play a bad deck.

"You're not coming?" I demanded, my voice steely. There was a moment of complete silence, and then Walt spoke, and the moment of silence was enough to give me a hint to what was coming.

"Rosie, it's not that simple." Walter tried, but I heard the tremor in his voice, and I didn't even have Derrick's lupine hearing.

"Yes, _it is!"_ Derrick protested angrily. "You've told us every _single time_ that things got bad that we could call it quits any time we wanted--and it's not even like that's what we're doing, right now, Family Services is forcing us to call it quits--and you'd take care of us! Why is this less important?"

"Because I'm getting married, Derrick, I've got a life now, and I can't go around taking care of Shannon's messes anymore!" Walter told my brother desperately. "I'm her little brother, and I've been taking care of her my entire life! I can't do it anymore!"

"We're just another one of Mom's messes?" I asked in a lethal voice, and Walt evidently didn't have the guts to answer this, because he fell silent suddenly. His silence was enough of an answer, though. "Great, thanks, Walter. You can go to hell." I told him in my same, steel edged voice, but even as I reached across the table to press the end button on the phone, my stomach turned over and the tears in my eyes burned so badly I had to blink them away, struggling not to cry.

"Rose, Derrick, I'm sorry." Miss Marren said softly. "But this means you'll need to go into--"

"We have another brother." I said, feeling detached from my body. Was I actually saying this? Was this a joke? But I couldn't bring myself to go into foster care, not when that could mean never seeing _Derrick_ again. Never seeing Embry again. My brother, my boyfriend-- I couldn't lose everything in one day. I wasn't that strong. "Sam Uley, his dad's our dad." I swallowed, not tearing my gaze from the speaker phone before me. I had to sound sure of this: the state couldn't want to run a DNA test to be sure. "It's not in the file because Mom never listed him on the birth certificate but he is. He's nineteen, he called in a tip because he was worried about us." Derrick shot me a look of sheer disbelief, but I couldn't look at him. He hadn't forgiven Sam yet either. But no way in hell I was losing Derrick and Embry.

"Would he be willing to--" Miss Marren began slowly.

"He's already offered--may I call him?" I asked, gesturing to my cell phone, and Miss Marren nodded slowly.

"When he comes to pick you up tell him to bring his driver's license, I want proof of age if he's so young." She told me softly and I flipped through my contacts, then pressed talk on my phone, ignoring the injured look Derrick was giving me. I didn't regret this decision, no matter how much it was sucking already. I could stand Derrick angry at me.

"Rose?" Sam asked as he picked up, and I heard a bang in the background, then people talking. The pack was with him, predictably, and I felt a sudden, aching need to be with Embry. God, it'd only been a few hours and I wanted him so badly. This imprinting thing was pretty intense.

"My uncle declined his custodial rights." I said in a voice that I knew sounded dead. I was probably scaring the guys--all of whom could hear me on the other end of the phone, even if they weren't the ones I was on the phone with. "Der and I need a legal guardian."

"I'll be there soon." Sam told us quietly. He paused. "Look, Ro, I'm sorry how this turned out." Derrick lifted his gaze to meet mine, glaring straight at me, and I closed my eyes and placed my hand over my eyes. Derrick was pissed at me, Walt didn't like us enough to take custody of us for _five freaking_ months, and now I was on the phone with one of three people I'd sworn I'd never talk to again after yesterday's phone call. God, how things change.

"Me too." I murmured softly. "Me too."

---

Sam pulled up in front of his house an hour later, and as soon as the car came to a stop, Derrick opened his door and jumped down from Sam's SUV, and I got out after him, flashing Sam an apologetic smile. "Derrick!" I called after him, getting out of the car and following him. "Der, c'mon, I'm sorry!" I continued, running after him until he hit the woods, and disappeared, and then I heard the familiar rip-and-howl of phasing, and I stopped running halfway across Sam's yard, putting my hands on my hips and biting my lip. Tears burned in my eyes, and I just stared at the woods that Derrick had disappeared into.

"Rosie!" Embry called behind me, and I turned around to face my soul mate as the tears began to streak down my face. Sam got out of his car to stand by it, and the boys were spilling onto the porch. Emily clung to the door jamb, looking heart broken, with a solemn Kim beside her, and Embry crossed the yard in a few short strides, lifting me into his strong arms and I sobbed shortly, pressing my face into his shoulder.

"He hates me." I sobbed. "My own brother hates me." Embry rubbed my back, pressing a kiss to my temple as he lifted me into his arms.

"Shh, Ro, he's just freaked," Embry murmured to me, and I heard the undercurrent of anger in his voice. "You'll be okay." And despite the fact that I loved Embry, and I trusted him with my life and to tell me the truth always, I had to ask myself the next question:

Would we be?


	15. In Which We Begin Anew

"Rose, I don't seem to have your homework." Mrs. Nievens, my English teacher, told me as I passed her desk after class two days later. I smiled sheepishly at her, running a tired hand through my hair as I hoisted my bag higher on my shoulder.

"It's at my house…" I told her, blushing a little.

"Rose…" She said in a reprimanding tone, closing a book open on her desk. She fell silent for a moment before she looked back up at me. "Rose, I can't help but notice that the quality of your work has fallen slightly since you've been hanging out with Jacob Black and his friends." My polite smile fell as I realized what she was insinuating, and she misread the action, assuming I was embarrassed. "Don't get me wrong, I understand a case of senioritis, but I checked in with the college advisor, and she told me she hasn't had one meeting with you. I'm worried, Rose: you have such promise. Are you really thinking about your future, though?"

"I've thought a lot about my future." I said carefully, knowing that the words about to leave my mouth were going to startle a reaction out of the woman who had walked me though what colleges I could go to last year. She'd really helped me see a way out of La Push--and now all I wanted to do was stay put. "I've decided to stick with University of Washington." I said apprehensively.

Mrs. Nievens's eyebrows flew up, and I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling, somehow, guilty. "Rose, you've taken all but one of the APs we offer here, you have perfect grades--just a few months ago you wanted anywhere _but_ the west coast." She paused, narrowing her eyes. "Don't tell me you're changing your mind to follow a boy."

"Mrs. Nievens, I really appreciate all of what you're saying here." I said quietly. "But I've got a lot of stuff going on at home, and, in the interest of full disclosure, am pretty close with Embry Call and don't want to leave him behind." She deserved as much of the truth as I could give her. "Thank you, though, for your concern." I looked away as she fell silent, and after a minute of silence, I turned and walked out of her classroom, feeling a tug at my heart strings. It was strange to have her compare me to the me of a few months ago, when everything was so different now.

"What took you so long?" Embry asked as I came out of the classroom, putting his arm around my waist. We walked a few feet from the doorway of my classroom before I rolled my eyes.

"Mrs. Nievens just wanted to talk to me about my future," I said shortly, summarizing, and Embry stiffened, his hand rising from my hip to my lower back. "Hey, she's just worried. I haven't met with the college advisor yet and she doesn't understand why last year I wanted out so badly and this year I don't." I told him softly.

"No, I get it." He sighed. "I got the same speech after winter break last year from almost all of my teachers before they realized it was having no effect." He paused, and I could practically hear the cogs turning in his head. "You really wanted out that badly last year?" I could have predicted that question a mile off.

"No, Em, I was just upset and feeling bad--I didn't get what you guys were keeping from me and why." I told him softly. "And then I was so worried about you--you all missed _so_ much school last year, it made me nervous." Embry looked unconvinced, and I sighed. "Embry Call," I began tiredly, stopping and turning to face Embry, a comforting smile on my face. "I love you. You're ten times more important than anything any college could ever offer me. Full scholarships to Ivy Leagues included." Embry's worried frown went away, but he didn't smile yet, and I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. He put a hand on the back of my neck, and grinned against my lips.

"This is unfair." He murmured as he pulled away, and I grinned at him, grabbing his hand as I turned away and pulling it around my shoulders. "You know I'm useless when you argue like that." He told me as we entered the cafeteria and I grinned at him as we slunk over our usual table in the back of the cafeteria where the rest of the pack was sitting. People were staring at us, I knew, and I tried to ignore it: Embry and his friends would have been the popular kids, had they had any interest in it. But since they didn't, they were just kind of quietly revered. And since I'd become Embry's girlfriend--after the entire female population of the high school had been trying--I'd become the unique combination of hated and sort of envied. But it freaked me out, so I tried to spend as little time as possible without one of the guys. Embry's arm tightened around shoulders, and I glanced up at him.

"Possessive much?" I asked him with a wry grin, and he rolled his eyes.

"Around Rowan Morgan, yeah." He said shortly, and I felt my grin fade. Rowan and Embry really, still didn't get along. "He talks about you. A lot." He told me seriously as we reached our table, and I slid into my seat beside Embry and Quil. As I sat, however, Derrick stood up, taking his tray and turning to walk silently away from the table.

I bounced back to my feet instantly, weaving between the tables and following him, ignoring the gazes of the boys as they followed me across the cafeteria.

"Derrick, c'mon," I pled as I caught his arm, keeping my voice quiet: with the roar of the cafeteria around us, we had an actual chance to have a private conversation. The boys couldn't hear us unless we were actually _near_ them in the cafeteria.

"C'mon _what_ Rose?" He demanded in a cold voice, turning to glare at me. "You're just happy as a fucking clam to hang out with your boyfriend, aren't you? Doesn't matter that Walter ditched us or that--"

"Yes it does!" I protested, frowning. "And I'm just as pissed as you are, I'm just not acting like a three-year-old about it." I glared at him. "Sam's a jerk for calling in a tip, trust me, I know, but he's also taking responsibility for it by being our legal guardian and not acting all high-and-mighty about it. You saw me flip on Edward so you know I wasn't hoping for this--and why the hell are you even angry at me? Der, we're on the same team, we're _always_ on the same team!" I stressed.

"Until you decided to forgive Sam and I didn't, we _were_ on the same team." Derrick told me in a hiss. "But now is different? What he did was _unforgivable_ and now you're acting like you guys are friendly and that means you're on his team and I'm on mine." He glared at me. "When you decided that it'd be okay to be with Sam--that was what's best for you, Rosie. You were being fucking selfish and now you won't even own up to it--"

"Derrick Mehta, are you actually telling me you'd rather be in foster care than staying with our maybe brother, no matter how angry you are at him?" I demanded in a hiss. "Because you know we wouldn't be together, right? And that with our luck, we'd probably get an abusive family!" He just scowled back at me. "Derrick," I said raggedly, running a hand through my hair as I switched tactics. "I was losing you and Embry in one shot--I couldn't do that, Der. You're my brother, you're my twin, you're my _constant_. What was I supposed to do? Just ditch?"

"If it meant we stayed away from Edward, Sam and Mr. Cabot, you could have said we were moving to Spain and I would have been okay with it." Derrick hissed back at me. "You sold my happiness for yours, Ro, face up to what you did and either get over the fact that you did that or don't--either way stop bugging me for my forgiveness because you're not getting it." He turned away, and this time I didn't stop him. I swallowed past the lump in my throat, taking a deep breath and turning back to the table. I sank down back into my seat, and judging by the concerned look that Embry gave me before he began to rub my back, I looked as bad as I felt.

"What'd he say?" Jared asked, leaning across the table, and I just flashed him a grin and reached across the table to steal his bag of chips. I'd thrown Embry for a spin, I knew, because he shot me a look that was clearly asking me if I was crazy. He knew that whatever Derrick had said had hurt my feelings--he just had no idea what Derrick had said--and he had no idea why I was covering it up. Frankly, neither did I. But I continued, anyway.

"Nothing." I said pleasantly. "We're twins. We fight."

I'm such a liar.

---

"He hates me." I moaned to Embry three days later as we sat across from each other at a table at Caribou Coffee. I wrapped my cold hands around my latte, biting my lip as I looked at Embry pleadingly. "He hates me so much."

"I'm going to kill him for making you feel this bad." Embry vowed, his voice sounding a little bit like he meant it. He studied my face carefully, looking seriously concerned, and I stood up and came around the table to kiss him on the lips, taking my empty cup with me. "I'm going to get another coffee, d'you want anything?" I asked him softly as I pulled away.

"Nah," He said softly, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind my ear. His hand slid to the back of my head, and he pulled me down for another kiss, and I smiled against his lips, pulling away to gently bump my forehead against his. "Hmm…" He murmured. "Actually, scratch that, yes, I--"

"Ew, Rosie, I'm your brother--I should _not_ have to see through this." Derrick said tiredly as he walked up to us, and I pulled away from Embry, startled: I still grabbed Embry's hand, and he squeezed my hand comfortingly. "Em, can I have a minute with my sister?"

"Depends what you're doing." Embry said quietly, and Derrick raised his eyebrows, glancing at me, and I just met his gaze unwaveringly.

"In his defense, you have been kind of bitchy recently." I told Derrick softly, and my brother sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his head with a hand before he smiled a little at me. Embry put a protective hand on my back, pulling me against him gently, and kissed the top of my head.

"Bitchy? Jesus, Rose." Derrick muttered, blushing, and I just watching him. He fell silent. "Yeah, I know." Derrick sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about it away from Sam whose been shooting me dirty looks since I got to the house a few days ago and hasn't stopped since. And Jared, Quil, Paul and Jake all kind of want to kill me."

"You left her, sobbing, in the front yard--it's no wonder that anyone who cares about her is pissed off." Embry said angrily, his voice a little louder as he stood up, and knocked his chair back, and I put a soothing hand on Embry's chest, standing on tiptoe to press my lips to his and putting myself directly between my boyfriend and my brother.

"Em, go get your coffee and get me one too--I'll talk to Derrick." I said softly, and Embry ran a large hand over my hair, before he nodded, looking over my head at Derrick in a warning, before turning away. I crossed my arms and turned back to my twin.

"I'm sorry." Derrick said flatly, his voice quiet. "I was kind of a jackass to you." He paused, waiting for me to say something, but I just met his gaze silently. Derrick ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Ro, I should have said what I did to you--I was pissed off as hell at Sam, and Edward, and Mr. Cabot and Walt, and I was taking it out on you. You made the right decision at social services, and I… God, if I'd gotten us into foster care and then you'd been hurt?" Derrick said miserably, and I felt my eyebrows knit together. "Sam's a decent guardian even if I want to tear his head off for calling social services." He paused. "And you deserve to be near Embry." He paused, a small smile gracing his features. "I forgot that you just making a decision that best met all of your needs, and that Embry for you isn't optional. You need Embry to be near you for you to happy." He said softly. "You're my sister, I want you to be happy, and you deserve to be happy, especially after all of the shit we took when we were kids from Mom."

I smiled shyly, grinning at him and then hugging him tightly. "Thanks Der," I said softly. I paused. "But if you call me selfish again, I'll kill you." I told him shortly as I pulled away, and Derrick chuckled.

"If I call you selfish again, I'm pretty sure Embry will actually kill me." Derrick reassured me.

"So is all well again with the Mehtas? Because if not, I'm taking you home and then beating him up." Embry said shortly as he walked up, and I grinned at him, pulling away from Derrick to slide my arms around Embry's neck, kissing him lightly before I pulled away.

"Everything's good again." I said softly. And it was.


	16. In Which Emily Redefines Family

Hey Guys! just wanted to say sorry for the delay in posting this (the last time I updated was last year, I think :[, and it's currently Jan 10th, so it's been too long) and that the next chapter will probably be up saturday or sunday... i have midterms this week. and i need to get good grades because my life goes better when my grades are better. good luck to my friends on fanfiction (who ican't remember the pennames of--super sorry, kids) who have also been cursed with stupid midterms.

xoxo

* * *

"Rose, darling, will you chop up that onion, there?" Emily requested across the kitchen, and I grabbed a knife and the onion and put it on a cutting board, beginning to (cautiously) chop it up. I'd never really cooked before—there'd really been nowhere to learn—but it was thanksgiving, and apparently cooking on thanksgiving was a thing.

It was Thanksgiving Day, and I was kind of settling in with Emily and Sam. Derrick still didn't talk to Sam, and only exchanged the bare minimum necessary with Emily, and he really only resided at the house to sleep, occasionally (sometimes he just stayed in our unoccupied home). But he was always here when I was here. It made him nervous—the scars on Emily's face, how I was now living with a man who'd marred another woman's face. And I couldn't really blame him: it did make me feel safer, to have Derrick or Embry here.

"Ow!" I winced as I pulled away from the onion, nursing a nick on my palm, and Emily looked up at me, her eyebrows drawing together in concern. "I'm fine," I told her hurriedly, flashing her a grin, and she watched me doubtfully. "Just a scratch." I turned to the cabinet where I knew she kept band-aids and gauze and things—and then someone's arms slid around my waist, Embry pressing his cheek to my hair.

"What'd you do to your hand?" He murmured in my ear.

"Just scratched it, no problem." I told him easily.

"I'll chop up the onion, you go—sit and watch, or something." Embry suggested lightly, and I turned within his arms to glare petulantly up at him.

"No, I'm going to help." I said determinedly. "I've never made Thanksgiving dinner before, and this is my last year before I move back into the house where I get to learn to make it. And I can't live my life without Thanksgiving because I can't make food." I told him, and Embry raised his eyebrows.

"I can make Thanksgiving for you." He told me softly, and I smiled a little, my determination fizzling out as I met his gaze. "Every single year." I blushed a little bit, and felt touched. Leave it to my ever-cheesy, ridiculously sweet boyfriend to make everything better. Embry knew what this was about—not my lack of knowledge about cooking (because, really, you could learn to cook whenever), but the fact that Thanksgiving was, by definition, a family holiday. Families cooked and ate and gave thanks—and I didn't really have a family to celebrate holidays with, just a screwed up brother and a maybe-half-brother and maybe-sister-in-law who were taking care of me because my uncle had wimped out. And he'd just reminded me, helpfully, that he was my family, now and forever. Somehow, the universe had worked out to allow me to keep Embry, forever.

I pressed my lips to his, smiling a little against the kiss as my eyes slid shut and I slipped my arms around his neck. I pulled away after a moment, not wanting to force Emily to feel like as my legal guardian, she should step in to stop my boyfriend and I from making out in her kitchen. I leaned my forehead against his and smiled a little. "Thanks, Em," I murmured, and he sighed, pulling away to brush his lips against my forehead. I felt a wry smile unfurl against my face as he lowered his forehead back to mine, and pulled my hands away from Embry and cradled my bleeding hand against my chest. "I'm still making Thanksgiving." I murmured to him, then kissed him for a second longer and pulled away, turning back to the cabinet.

I pulled down a bandage and the antibiotic cream that was kind of gooey and disgusting (but I so hated the actual hydrogen peroxide that I couldn't be pushed into using it) and put it on the cut, and taped down the band-aid, feeling awkward as Embry leaned against the countertop behind me, watching me unhappily. He winced as I winced, and I glanced back at him with one eyebrow raised. I loved Em, I did. But super protector Embry wasn't really necessary when I was trying to make thanksgiving dinner. This was the worst that was going to happen. And this wasn't that bad at all.

My phone rang as I opened and closed my hand experimentally, and I picked my phone up off the countertop, answering it without glancing at the Caller ID.

"Hello?" I asked cheerfully, turning back to the onion and the knife, and I dropped the dirty knife in the sink and grabbed another from the drawer.

"Rose." Walt said desperately, and I dropped the clean knife back in the drawer, my eyeline shooting up to stare straight ahead. "Ro, sweetheart, I need to talk to you—please don't hang—" I picked the knife I'd dropped back up, swallowing back irritation as I pulled my phone from my ear and ended the call. I turned back to Embry and Emily, forcing a half-hearted smile, but now Derrick was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, and Embry had straightened up, his gaze sharp on my face.

Damn werewolf senses.

Silence hung in the kitchen for a moment—Embry and Derrick watching me, Derrick's expression dark and Embry's protective, and Emily looked confused but worried. I sighed, tucking my phone into my back jeans pocket, watching the guys. "I hung up." I said simply, and Derrick nodded tightly, his dark gaze meeting mine for a few tense moments before he turned back to the living room. I glanced at Embry. "I'm okay." I told him softly.

"You sure?" He clarified, and I nodded, smiling more genuinely this time, a soft smile on my features. "All right." He murmured, and he put a hand on my waist, kissing me for a second, and then pulling away, and I leaned back against the countertop behind me as he left.

"Who was that?" Emily asked, as my phone remained silent in my pocket, and I thanked God for that: at least Walt knew when to cut his losses and move on, for the present, anyway.

Of course, that had been what he'd done with Derrick and me. He'd known that by age 17, there was no saving the children of the mentally ill woman. If there was any emotional trauma left at that age, if we hadn't already proved to be the resilient type who could survive this stuff and then lead normal lives--there was going to be very little able to be done about it. And Walt was just in his early thirties. The guy was pretty freaking young to ever be responsible for twin seventeen-year-old screw-up niece and nephew.

"My uncle." I told her quietly, and she nodded once, her expression softening further. She glanced down at the turkey she was about to place in the oven, and paused.

"I realize this is none of my business, especially considering that Sam called social services and I supported that decision." Emily began. "But I am your legal guardian. And I wouldn't be taking that responsibility seriously if—"

"Emily, I know you're about to tell me to talk to him, and as much as I appreciate that you're just being a nice person and a good guardian, but Walter would rather do anything than actually be there for people. How d'you think Der and I got our own hummers? Missed Christmases. And when he ditched us with Mom, after she regained custody—the house. With all the nice stuff. Der and I have trust funds, college funds, more crap than we could ever use." I paused, raising an eyebrow. "He did stuff for us that he thought would placate us until we turned eighteen. That was the game plan—Der and I take care of Mom until we were eighteen." I exhaled shortly, feeling irritation hit me. "He had a dependent sister and dependent niece and nephew and he ditched because he was too scared to take responsibility—for anything. And I don't stay on the phone with people like that." I chopped the onion vengefully, and then scooped up the pieces, putting them in a bowl and passing the bowl to Emily. I hesitated, then took off my apron and put it in on the back of a chair. I crossed my arms and walked into the living room, where Embry, Derrick and Quil were sitting around the television. I met Embry's gaze miserably, and sank into his lap, and he rubbed my back, tucking my head under his chin.

I still was just as hurt by Walt's rejection of Derrick and I as I had been at the social services office. And I was getting worse at hiding it.

---

"Light the candles, please, Derrick," Emily said distractedly as she put down the green bean casserole on the table cloth I'd just carefully laid out. I grabbed the forks and distributed them to the seats: Jared, Brady, Quil, Embry and Kim had come to Thanksgiving at the house this year, because Jared and Brady's parents (their moms were sisters) were going down to Jared and Brady's grandparents' home in Florida and Jared was staying with Brady on the Reservation.

My brother pointedly ignored Emily from his spot on the couch, and Kim shot me a sympathetic look as I glanced tiredly at him. Emily looked kind of injured at the obvious brush-off, and I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Derrick, you heard her, and you're acting like an ass again." I said in a monotone. My brother twisted in his seat to smile charmingly at me. "Yeah, I've known you too long to fall for that--get to your feet and light the stupid candles or I'm calling Walt and telling him that you have an overwhelming desire to talk to him." I was joking, and everyone present knew that, but the threat was enough to make Derrick stand up, grabbing his Diet Coke can and putting it on the table before he slipped into the kitchen.

"Kiddo, how do you already have food all over your shirt?" Kim asked Brady in an irritated voice, and Brady glared at her. I hid a smile: Kim was extremely maternal towards Jared's cousin and his best friend, Collin, who was his family, and I thought it was kind of adorable.

"I'm like, two feet taller than you. You can't call me kid." Brady muttered, scowling, but he brushed the crumbs of the cracker he'd been munching on off his shirt, and I grinned at Jared, who was just smirking a little.

"Okay, guys, come sit down." Emily said chidingly, waving Sam in from the kitchen as Derrick came back in as well, placing the candles on the table and lighting them with matches. Sam brought in the carved turkey, placing it smack in the middle of the table, and then slid into a seat at the head of the table: at the other end, Emily pulled out the seat, waving Derrick over eagerly. I shot Derrick a look--_be nice_--as I slipped into my seat beside Embry, and across from us, Jared and Kim sat down with Brady. Emily sat beside me, on my left side, and then clasped her hands on her lap. "Now. Before we eat." Brady groaned, earning himself a slap against the back of his head from Jared, who shot him a scowl, before looking back at Emily. Emily, always good-natured, grinned at Brady. "It won't take long." She reassured him. "But we need to talk about what we're thankful for."

"Em…" Sam murmured, reaching to touch his fiancée's hand with a glance towards Derrick. "A lot of stuff has changed, not everyone is walking around with a list of gifts as long as ours--"

"That's why it's all the more important." She said stubbornly, flashing her husband-to-be a tight smile, and Sam shot me an apologetic glance: I just shrugged with one shoulder, as Embry's arm slipped around the back of my chair. I couldn't stop Derrick from flipping if people intentionally put us in situations where he'd get pissed. Nor should I. I was his twin, not his freaking puppeteer.

When no one immediately volunteered, Emily nodded once, as if she'd expected this. "All righty, I'm going first." She decided. "I am thankful for Rose finding the picture of her mother with Sam's father." She said boldly. I shot an apprehensive look at Embry, who just moved his hand to my back, squeezing my shoulder comfortingly. However Derrick reacted to what Emily was saying would happen--regardless of what I did now. "Because that led to our family expanding. And I know this had negative repercussions for Rose and Derrick, and I am sorry for that." She acknowledged, and I could hear the genuine apology in her voice. "But I now have a future brother- and sister-in-law. Who are with us this holiday and will hopefully join us on future ones." She turned to smile at me, and I flashed her a shy smile, blushing a little.

"Thanks, Emily." Derrick said quietly from the end of the table, and I glanced at him, then felt a surge of warmth hit me as I realized Derrick was smiling gratefully at Emily. I looked back to Emily.

"Yeah, really. Thank you." I said sincerely, glancing from her to Sam, who met my gaze with the first warm smile I'd ever seen on his face. For the first time in my entire life, I was sitting at a table with adults who cared about me and my boyfriend-and-future-husband-one-day and my brother, and everything felt _okay._

_Maybe we were going to get through this._


	17. In Which Rowan Surprises Me

Chapter 17

"Rose!" Someone called after me in the school hallway, and I turned around, blinking as I tugged the single iPod headphone I had in my ear out--my day at school had been completely devoid of human contact, so far. Kim had the flu, and the boys had been called out on a vampire coven that'd been passing through last night and hadn't gotten in until seven thirty, when I was leaving for school. I'd made the excuses once I'd gotten to school for Derrick, Embry's Mom had called Em in, and between Emily and Sam, the rest of the guys had been called in too.

It'd been a week since Thanksgiving, and a few issues were beginning to crop up, the least of which being that Walter was still trying to talk to us. I'd stopped checking my email, but when I did log into AIM, it cheerfully told me I had forty three emails. I would have bet at least half of them were from him.

"Oh, hey Rachel." I said, surprised, as I spotted a girl in my World Cultures class hurrying towards me--Rachel Cheever. Rache was a nice enough girl, but kind of intense--she was going to an Ivy League if it killed her. Which meant that she was Editor of the school newspaper, head of Prom Committee, on the girls' soccer and tennis teams, and kind of insane about grades. More insane than I'd been when I'd cared about things like school. "What's up? I haven't talked to you in a while."

"Yeah, I know, it's tragic--we should really grab coffee sometime." Rachel said in her too-fast voice, a big smile on her face, and hugged me briefly: I hugged her back awkwardly for a second before releasing her. She was always perfectly nice, we just weren't particularly friends. Back before Derrick had become a werewolf, we'd kind of been competitors, if merely because no school was going to accept two kids from our teensy Rez school. "Okay, so, Rose, I don't have a lot of time to talk," She began. "But I need a favor from you and Kim and I'd ask her separately but I think she's out sick." I nodded, trying to look attentive. "Will you join the prom committee?" She asked me, and I blinked.

The fact of it was, the Prom Committee was kind of exclusive. Kids spent their entire high school careers trying to popular enough to get on it. I'd even entertained the thought for a while--before Embry and the guys phased, the first time round, I'd come pretty close to going for it. But then they'd phased and I'd stopped caring.

"Um." I said slowly. "Sure, but… don't you guys have enough members?" I asked. The Prom Committee was _never_ short kids. The waiting list to get on was pretty much every girl in the twelfth grade.

"Yes and no--yes because we've got the ten kids that usually organize it. But." Rachel looked kind of worried. "I won't lie. We're not going to get the actual _Rez_ kids to come--you know, Jacob, Jared, Paul, Embry, Quil and Derrick, now, I guess that Sam's dad's your dad--"

"How do you _know _that?" I demanded, frowning. Rachel flapped a hand at me.

"We're in high school--how do you _think_?" She demanded. "Gossip." She paused. "Where was I--oh, yeah, okay, so we need you and Kim to join Prom Committee." I stared at her.

"To get the boys to come to Prom." I clarified, and Rachel smiled a little apologetically.

"Well, you and Kim are sweet and stuff too--it's not exclusively for that." She said, backtracking. "And we need a new meeting place, and you're living with Sam Uley, right? His wife--"

"Fiancée," I corrected, but Rachel didn't really pay me any mind.

"Whatever, she's an interior designer or was at RISD for like three seconds before she decided to come to La Push, god knows why, so we could use her help. And it'd be weird asking for her help before she was somehow otherwise involved." She continued.

"She was?" I demanded, shocked.

"Okay, Rose, sweetie, you need to talk to people." Rachel said, patting my arm, and I stuck my tongue out at her: she grinned. "But you'll do it?" She asked anxiously after a moment.

"Can I think about it? I've kind of got a lot on my plate right now." I explained. "I'll get back to you tomorrow, okay?" Rachel nodded with a sympathetic expression.

"I heard about your Mom ditching--I'm super sorry about that, by the way." She told me as she backpedaled down the hallway, and I put my hands on my hips, staring at her as she disappeared into the crowd of kids. I stared after her, then turned back the direction I'd originally been walking in, tucking a headphone in my ear.

Prom Committee. Hm.

---

"Can I have two hot chocolates?" I asked the cashier at Caribou Coffee, opening my wallet and fingering through the bills there.

"Hey Ro," I recognized Rowan's voice as his hand, with a five and two ones, and I glanced up at him. "One of them for Embry?" He asked me quietly, stopping before he handed the bills to the cashier, and I rolled my eyes, but shook my head: one was for me, and one was for Kim. He nodded and handed the man behind the counter the money, and I rolled my eyes.

"Still harboring your not-so-secret grudge for my boyfriend, I see." I said, turning to Rowan and raising an eyebrow, and he just met my gaze evenly. "And thanks." I finished softly. "You didn't have to do that."

"No problem." Rowan said easily. "And your boyfriend isn't good enough for you." He continued with a small smile, and I raised both of my eyebrows, now, shocked. "C'mon, let's go wait for your drinks." He walked past me to the other countertop, and I just crossed my arms across my chest, following him and narrowing my eyes.

"What's your deal, Row?" I demanded under my breath. "I'm dating Embry and I get that it's confusing after what he did--"

"Rose, he _broke_ you last year." Rowan told me heatedly, keeping his voice quiet. "It's not confusing, it's actually a thing with kids of abusive parents, they go back to abusive _people_--"

"I don't have abusive parents." I hissed at him, straightening up and dropping my hands to my sides. "Mom is _sick_, Rowan, not _abusive_--"

"They're not mutually exclusive!" He said angrily. "And _everyone_ knows she hurt you the first week of school, _everyone_ knows she ditched--for god's sakes, Rose, your social worker came to get a deposition from my parents to see if she'd ever displayed the behavior before for the trial once she shows up--"

"_Shut the hell up_." I hissed, my voice lethal, but keeping it quiet. Apparently my entire school knew about my entire private life, but I wasn't going to let the entire world know. "My mom is sick, the social worker doesn't get that and apparently neither do you--you can't blame people with bipolar disorder for erratic behavior! That's just a _thing_ with them!" I ran a hand through my hair, falling silent as I studied Rowan. "What the hell are you doing?" I demanded tiredly after a few seconds. "Rowan, I'm dating Embry. My best friends are Jared, Kim and Quil. My brothers are Derrick and Sam. It doesn't matter if you don't like the actual native Rez kids--they're my friends. I'm one of them." I crossed my arms, trying to get _something_ from Rowan's stony gaze. "I don't know what do with you, Rowan." I admitted softly. "You stuck around last year, so you do get points for that--but the way you're acting now…"

"Rose, you've given up _everything_ for the Quileute kids." Rowan said quietly. "You're not going to as good a college as you could be, you're covering for them with Mr. Cabot and you haven't done anything with anyone outside of Embry and company. Derrick quit Ice Hockey, Rose. He _loved_ Ice Hockey. I don't know how or why or when they sucked you into what was going on with them, but I know it's not good." He met my gaze with his own, which was clouded over and tumultuous. "You have no life outside of them."

"Rowan, you're such jackass." I said shortly after a second. "I love Embry. Derrick and Sam are my brothers, Kim is my actual best friend. I don't know what to tell you but that I'm sorry that it doesn't make sense to you. It probably never will." I paused. "But we should and can still be friends--"

"I never wanted to be friends, Rose." Rowan said, his deep-seated anger audible in his voice, and I stared up at him, surprised. "I wanted to be standing where Embry is. And I was better to you than he was. And I didn't take advantage of how pissed off and upset you were last spring." I gaped up at him. "I, by all means, _should_ be there. I've got a future. Embry's not even going to college." Rowan shook his head, a small, incredulous smile on his face. "You're screwy, though. So you went for the boy who has no future but could probably lift a freaking car, and I get to leave this hell hole but without the girl I've loved since sophomore year." He shoved away from the countertop, turning and striding through the front doors of the coffee shop, and I swallowed hard, taking a shaky breath through my nose.

"Two small hot chocolates." The barista said as she placed my drinks on the counter behind me, and I turned, grabbing them and shoving them in a carrier, swallowing again against the sudden lump in my throat. I pushed forward, through the doors and into the parking lot, getting in my car and putting the drinks in cupholders before I stared down at the steering wheel, confusion and panic swirling around in my chest and making it hard to breathe. Jesus. This wasn't happening. This can't have happened: I've known Rowan for years. He was my brother's best friend and a good friend of mine. I can't possibly have missed Rowan's more than usual affection for me--not for two and a half years. I wasn't that stupid, or oblivious.

And suddenly, it occurred to me, I was.

Every hand he'd ever placed on the small of my back, every lingering gaze, every smile he'd ever sent me that faded before he blushed. How he'd been so protective of me after Embry ditched, how he was pretty much so protective of me _period_. I was an idiot.

I picked my phone up and dialed Embry's phone number automatically--my own distress number, my version of 911.

"Rosie posie!" I was going to kill Quil.

"I need to talk to Embry, Quil," I said quietly, my voice a little hoarse, and there was a pause. Quil wasn't the smartest, sure, but he wasn't completely oblivious. Unlike me. He knew something was wrong.

"Ro, he's out on rounds with Sam and Jared." Quil told me softly. "I could…" He sounded uncertain, now. "I guess I could go get him, if it's important." I bit my lip, sighing softly. "Hey, I'll go get him--"

"Just have him call me, when he's back, okay?" I interrupted, trying to sound less alarmed than I felt.

"Okay," Quil said uncertainly. "I'll tell him." He paused. "Derrick wants to talk to you." Aw, hell. I did not want to talk to Derrick. There was a pause, and the tell-tale sound of a phone switching hands.

"Rose?" Derrick asked, and I heard a hint of concern in his voice, as much emotion that Derrick willingly displayed, these days.

"Hi." I squeaked. Damn. Embry would be sweet and sympathetic. Derrick would get incredibly cranky and then murder Rowan.

"What's wrong?" He asked me suspiciously.

"I'm fine."

"Not an answer to my question."

"Nothing's wrong, Derrick."

"Now that's just a lie."

I fell silent at these words, closing my eyes and massaging them. "C'mon sis." Derrick said finally. "You're freaking me out. What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later." I said softly. "I gotta go, Der." I ended the call, moving my phone back to my lap. I hesitated, then dropped my phone into my lap and put my keys in the ignition. I had to get away from here.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled into the driveway of Sam and Emily's house, and got out of the car, clipping my keys to my belt loop as I got out of the car. I crossed to the house, crossing my arms across my chest nervously as I slipped into the house, closing the door behind me and kicking my shoes off under the front table.

"Ro?" Quil called from the living room, and I ran a hand through my hair, walking in. Derrick and Quil were taking up the entire couch, Paul sitting in one arm chair, and Leah, who I didn't know particularly well, was sitting in another, looking kind of wary. I was kind of surprised she was here, period: Leah _hated_ Sam. So, so much. Leah and Derrick had kind of, oddly, bonded over their mutual hatred. They were kind of friends. It was creeping me out.

Derrick took one look at me, and scowled. "What happened?" He demanded, making to stand up, and I waved him down with my hand, shaking my head as I crossed to the empty seat and sat down, eying the football game they'd muted as I'd walked in. "Rose." He said finally, when I remained silent.

"Rowan's in love with me." I said quietly, looking at the TV. "Has been since tenth grade." There was a pause.

"What the _fuck_?" Paul asked after a second.

"He paid for my hot chocolate, told me Embry didn't deserve me and that he'd been in love with me since sophomore year and then left because I'd already told him I loved Embry." I looked at Derrick tiredly. "How the hell do I miss something like that?" I demanded after a second. "I'm one crappy friend if I miss something like him being in love with me for two and a half years. God." I shuddered. "How the hell did this happen? What's wrong with me?"

"You did nothing wrong!" Derrick exploded. "I'm going to pound him into the ground!" Derrick said angrily, his expression darkening, and I sighed. Predictable, as always.

"Seems a little unnecessary." Leah noted from her seat, the first words she'd said since I'd arrived. "Rowan didn't hurt her." She glanced at me. "Did he?" I shook my head, and she nodded. I felt a surge of gratefulness towards Leah.

"He made her cry--" Derrick protested.

"I'm not six, Derrick." I said tiredly. "You don't have to beat up every boy on the playground who makes me cry." Derrick scowled, but sat back in his chair. "And he didn't exactly make me cry." I looked back at the football game. "Can we stop talking about it?"

"Sure." Quil said easily. "But only because Embry'll come home, hear about it, then kill." I sighed.

"No he won't." I said tiredly. "I think he knows."

"As someone whose been inside his head and heard way too many of his thoughts," Leah said quietly. "I'm going to tell you right now. He has no idea." I paused, turning to glance at Leah. I sighed.

"Shit."


	18. In Which Embry Leaves, And Comes Back

For certain special people who made this chapter possible:

skittles31: ouija board is an important phrase that deserves a discussion in history class;

skyler25: i AM a cell. it's true.

also, of course, probs to moliveline and val, whose pennames i might never remember.

i'm sorry, i promised some of them they'd make it into this chapter. i know i'm friends with freaks. but they're MY freaks. also, this is a TEENSY bit filler, but I felt like it was necessary, just cause. but important things will be happening one day soon. unlike my harry potter story, this plot line will not draw out for years. just maybe till, like, april. :D

xoxo

* * *

Chapter 18

"I haven't told him about what Rowan said yet." I confided in Kim two days later as we sat in my car, driving home from school. "I haven't had the chance!" I continued defensively when Kim shot me an incredulous look, her eyebrows flying up. I shot her a scowl. "He's out doing rounds all the time and then he's sleeping." I sighed tiredly, running a hand through my hair as we reached a stop light.

"That sucks, but seriously, Rose, talk to Jake, he'll get that you need to talk to Em. He'll pull him off a patrol." Kim said seriously.

"I know he would, but I don't want to manipulate the pack like that--I'm already messing with most of the pack dynamic here." I shrugged, glancing at her unhappily, and Kim gaped at me.

"You're not messing with the pack dynamic--you're Embry's imprint. That's automatically part of the pack." Kim scowled. "And you're probably Sam's sister, and Derrick is an actual wolf and you're definitely _his_ sister." Kim continued, and I shot her a small smile, not feeling particularly reassured. "And you can't mess with the pack dynamic if you're _part_ of the pack dynamic." She said decisively, and I snorted, but kept my eyes on the road as the red light changed to green.

"Excuse me." I corrected. "Derrick attacked Embry because Em didn't tell me about the imprinting thing and Sam phased in Embry's presence and saw that we found a picture of me as a baby with _his_ dad, which set him off on a protecting-little-siblings thing so he called social services and got me and Derrick out the house, effectively causing Derrick to hate his guts and only barely tolerate Emily." I finished and Kim blinked.

"Hm." She said quietly. There was a pause. "You should have a show on the CW. That's where all the good drama is." I paused, before I giggled, glancing at Kim and shaking my head. Kim just grinned back at me as we turned onto Sam and Emily's street, and I pulled into their driveway.

"You're the best." I told her shortly, and I pulled my keys out of the car, opening my door and clipping the keys to my belt. I twisted to shut the door behind me, and then a familiar warm wolf-boy was standing in front of me, grinning uncontrollably: I squeaked before he wrapped his arms around me, and my hand slipped to the back of his neck, my lips touching his within moments.

Embry.

"Hey you," I murmured breathlessly as I pulled away, and he grinned a little bigger. "By the way, Derrick might just storm out here and kill you if this continues." I warned him softly, and Embry didn't look any less delighted.

"Eh, he's a little busy with Leah." Embry murmured, and I blinked, before I grinned, straightening up.

"Derrick and _Leah_?" I asked in a scandalized whisper. Embry nodded, looking vaguely displeased that I wanted to converse instead of just making out against my car. But he was still pretty happy.

"Yeah--they're not imprinting, but not everyone does, you know?" He shrugged. I nodded, still smiling, before I realized that I really did have to tell Embry about what Rowan had said. It was one of those things that really didn't matter to me, because I loved Embry and not Rowan, but I knew it would start a fight if Em found out about it from someone other than myself. And I couldn't stand a fight with Embry--not when it was looking like I'd get to keep him forever and always.

"Hey, Em, I've gotta talk to you..." I said softly, and Embry's gaze darkened as he frowned worriedly down at me. I forced a smile back, but it didn't even begin to fool him: he just looked more concerned. "Something happened on Wednesday." Embry was looking potentially lethal, now, but I raised a hand to cup his cheek, smiling a little sadly at him. "I'm okay." I murmured to his unspoken question.

"What happened, then?" He asked me solemnly.

"Rowan." I said shortly, then sighed. "I was at Caribou Coffee, and he came in...we talked a little bit and he told me he'd..." I paused unwillingly, then continued. "He's been in love with me since tenth grade. Said all the guys had but at the end it'd really just been you and him, and then you'd won and he wasn't sure why." I paused, frowning up at Embry, licking my lips.

"He _said_ that to you?" Embry asked me, his voice dark, and I stared up at him determinedly, nodding once. "At a fucking _coffee shop_." I raised my eyebrows. Embry didn't usually get super pissed off, it was one of the reasons he was my favorite of the guys, from day one--Paul had actual anger issues, Jared and Jake both had their share of demons. Quil was too busy worrying to be angry at people. But Embry was just kind of open and nice, and with my track record for angry adults, Embry'd been refreshing. "I'm going to kill him." He hissed.

"Don't do that!" I protested, stroking Embry's cheek with my thumb: he leaned into my hand a little, and I felt comforted by the familiar action. "He's been a really great friend, Em, and yeah, his sense of timing is screwy, but he's not a bad guy." I paused. "And it must suck to be in love with someone who doesn't love him back." I said softly, more for Embry's benefit than Rowan's, but Embry still softened.

"You don't do what Rowan did, Rose." Embry said softly, shaking his head a little. "He's been a decent friend, sure, but when a girl is openly dating someone, you don't tell her you're in love with her. And Jesus, wasn't he Derrick's friend?" Embry demanded.

"Best friend." I confirmed tiredly. "And seriously don't kill Rowan, Embry. I think Rowan's just pissed off, and I kind of owe him the right to be angry, I mean he _was_ really--" I cut myself of, not even letting myself finish that sentence. I wouldn't mean for what I'd said to be hurtful, but I wasn't an idiot. It would hurt Embry.

"Really what?" Embry asked me, so earnestly that it hurt my heart. I sighed, glancing up at him apologetically. He wasn't going to like what I was about to say, but he wasn't going to like me lying to him, either.

"He was really good to me last year." I murmured finally, holding Embry's gaze seriously, and Embry took a step away from me, looking suddenly distraught. My heart twisted in sympathy for him: I didn't want to hurt him, I really didn't. But I did feel like I owed Rowan something--even if it was an allowance of patience while he was rude to my boyfriend and hurt my feelings and made me confront the fact that I was the most oblivious kid on the planet. "Em, don't do that." I told him seriously, worried. "Don't blame yourself." I knew he was. "You did what you did to protect me or because you were scared for--" Embry was shaking, I realized, and I blinked, falling silent. Derrick appeared in the doorway of the house, tearing the door open and looking at me with a kind of resigned panic: he knew what was going to happen, just as the rest of us did.

"He's gonna phase, Rose, c'mon inside." Derrick called to me, the most words I'd heard him say in weeks, and I shook my head, taking a few steps towards Embry.

"Em?" I said softly. "Babe, Rowan being a good friend last year does nothing. You're still the one I want and choose, Embry. Rowan doesn't matter." I took a step towards Embry, and in my peripheral vision, Derrick ran a hand through his hair, glancing back into the house as if for help, before coming forward with a dark scowl. "I still want you over him." Embry didn't say anything, though whether he couldn't or just didn't want to, I wasn't sure. "Embry, please, calm--" A bigger shudder ran through my boyfriend's body, and Derrick was suddenly between Embry and I, pushing me back towards the car, twisting to shoot a protective glare at Embry.

"Rose, get inside." He hissed at me, and I shot a whithering scowl at Derrick before looking back at Embry. "Rose, I swear to God, we didn't survive Mom for you to get clawed by your boyfriend, get the hell inside the house." Derrick continued irately when I didn't immediately obey. I spared him barely a glance, raising my eyebrows: Derrick had just referenced Mom without someone trying to goad him into it: that, more than even Embry's shuddering, made me nervous. "Sis, I'm serious, go." Derrick told me tightly, his gaze dark, but I ignored him, running a hand through my hair tiredly as I looked past him to Embry. I hesitated, then walked around Derrick, taking a few steps towards Embry. My twin cursed under his breath, glancing up at the sky as if for help from God. "Rose, I'm a freaking werewolf not a life insurance policy." Derrick muttered to me, but I ignored that too.

"Embry, Rowan doesn't matter." I murmured, my heart breaking for the boy in front of me. "Rowan can say whatever he wants: at the end of the day, it's just us in this relationship. Who cares about everyone else?" I asked, shrugging a little for effect, though I felt anything but flippant.

"Me." Derrick said under his breath behind me, and I just flipped him my middle finger, not even sparing him a glance.

Suddenly Embry was pulling me against him, practically crushing me against his chest, and I looked up at him, comforted by the warmer-than-usual temperature of his skin. "Rose, love," He murmured to me. "Rowan's right." I blinked, then glared at Embry.

"Embry Call," I murmured to the boy I loved. "I will not stand here while you pull an Edward Cullen, are you listening to me?" Embry seemed scared now, and I heard Derrick chuckle behind me: I made a mental note to kill him the first moment I got. Derrick was being a bigger than usual jackass recently. "I refuse to let you dig yourself into some kind of guilt spiral. You made a big mistake last year, it's true, and yeah, I did get my feelings hurt. You didn't _intend_ to, though. And you did what you did because my brother would have killed you had you gotten a step closer to me, and you were there when Mom flipped and you were there when I figured out that Sam's probably my brother and you're here _now_." I held Embry's gaze intensely. "And if you continue on the stupid path you're trying to get on--where you guilt yourself into believing you don't deserve me--I'll kill you dead." Embry stared down at me, then released me gently, brushing his lips against mine.

"I'm gonna go for a run." He murmured, leaving me there, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're coming back." I said, more of a question than it sounded like, and Embry bit his lip, nodding.

"As long as you'll take me." He said softly, before he turned and leapt, morphing in the air. He ran into the forest, and Derrick, god bless him, came up beside me and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me, watching Embry disappear into the forest that encroached on Sam and Emily's property.

"You okay?" He asked me, bumping my shoulder with his, glancing at me, and I looked at him tiredly, before nodding once. Derrick sighed. "Liar." He murmured, looking back after where Embry had disappeared. "By the way, the next time I tell you to get the hell inside the house because your boyfriend is turning into a wolf, get the _hell inside the house_." Derrick's voice was kind of passive, but I heard the honest relief in his voice that nothing had happened.

"I've never been very good at listening." I noted softly.

"Yeah." Derrick murmured agreeably, then paused. "Still." I snorted, and Derrick ruffled my hair before he turned back towards the house. I stared into the forest still, and Derrick stopped turning back to me. "C'mon Rosie. He'll be a couple hours anyway. Might as well not get pneumonia waiting for him." Derrick's voice was oddly affectionate, and I turned to follow him miserably.

I wanted Embry to come back. Right now.

---

The door to Sam and Emily's house swung open hours later, around one AM, and I looked up sleepily from where I had been napping on the couch, leaning against Derrick. Sam was sitting in the arm chair across the room, and as Embry entered, Sam shot him a _we'll-talk-later _look that I was glad I wasn't on the recieving end of. I jumped to my feet, crossing to him and pressing my face into the spot where his neck met his shoulder, relishing in the feeling of being with Embry.

"You came back." I murmured softly, and Embry stroked down my hair comfortingly, brushing his lips against the top of my head, his warm arm settling around me naturally, as if this was the way they, and I, belonged.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to me, and I just praised God that he had indeed come back. Even though he'd told me he would, I hadn't exactly felt super confident following our last conversation. "I'm sorry I freaked out and I'm sorry Rowan put you through that." He fell silent, rubbing my back, and I just squeezed my eyes shut. "Wait, you have school tomorrow, babe." He murmured, and I nodded into his shoulder. "Why aren't you in bed?" He murmured, his voice rumbling in his chest, and I pulled back to grin incorrighably at him. "Rosie." He murmured. "Bedtime."

"He's right, Ro." Derrick said behind me, and I turned to glare at him.

"Stop jumping in on my conversations with Embry." I told him scoldingly, then turned back to Embry, brushing my lips against his with a restrained smile. "But I'm going to bed. I just wanted to make sure you came back."

"Had he not I would have shot him." Sam said from his chair, and I snorted while Embry raised his eyebrows.

"Play nice, boys." I reminded my family and my boyfriend, reaching over to ruffle Sam's hair fondly: he swatted at my hand even as I moved away, into my bedroom. I smiled a little at Embry before I closed my bedroom door behind me, then leaned back against it, smiling to myself.

Embry'd come back.


	19. In Which Things Crash

Chapter 19

"So, I'd like everyone to welcome Rose Mehta and Kim Conneweller to the Prom Committee," Rachel said cheerfully as smiled at the group of girls, all of whom looked fairly nice, and I looked over all of them, grinning a little There were certainly a couple of kids with questionable morals who could have their rude moments, but it wasn't like the place was swarming with them. "Rosie will be helping out with décor—she's living with Emily Uley." Rachel raised her eyebrows emphatically on Emily's name, and I traded looks with Kim, a little uncomfortable.

"It's still Emily Denver." I corrected after a moment. "They're getting married in June."

"That's going to be the prettiest wedding—Emily's gorgeous." Danielle, a brunette girl who sat in the back of my English class, gushed happily. "And I saw the inside of your house once, when my mom sent me over with some stuff for Sam to sign—I love what she's done with the space." I grinned at Danielle, and crossed to her table, sinking down into the empty seat beside her, Kim trailing in my wake. She sank into the seat on my other side, shooting me daggers through her eyes. She really didn't want to be here.

"Anyway, Rose will be on the Decoration & Location Committee, and Kim's going to help out with services—the photographer, ticket sales, raising money, etc." Rachel grinned. "Let's just catch Ro and Kim up on what's going on."

"We think we want to have the actual prom in the Gym—it's cheap, you know, even though it's clichéd, and I think if we used enough febreeze, it could stop smelling like..." Nina pulled a face, "it does." I chuckled, leaning back in my seat, crossing my arms across my chest: Kim shifted uncomfortably next to me, leaning forward in her seat: she really wanted to just get away. I frowned at her and she just rolled her eyes, looking away. "And we're still trying to come up with a theme…"

"Vegas." Danielle chorused with another girl, across the table, who was either named Sophie or Sonia, I couldn't remember which.

"C'mon guys, Casino Royale." Alex pled, and I laughed softly.

"I'm glad you're all so united." I said with a grin.

"It'll come with time." Rachel said confidently.

"So, fearless leader, what're we doing for fundraising?" Danielle asked Rachel.

"We are having a mother-daughter bakesale at the game against Darlan Falls, guys." Rachel continued, her voice louder now as she tried to quiet the chatter that had quickly developed: everyone fell silent. Kim glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. Even though Rachel knew my mother was missing, this obviously hadn't dawned on her yet, because she continued to go on heedlessly, even as I felt my face redden (as much as it could—I did have pretty dark skin). "I know it's not until after break but I'm just putting it out there: any baked goods are welcome, but if you can just e-mail me so I can make sure I know how much of what to expect, and maybe try to get a couple kids to switch, if we've got, like, five of you making cookies. We don't need a hundred thousand cookies. Just forty or so." Rachel smiled at her own joke and a few kids tittered a little.

"Do our mothers have to come, or do we just have to ask them to bake with us…?" Another girl asked, a whining tone in her voice, and Rachel put her hands on her hips, fixing the girl with a hard stare.

"If your mother helps you bake, I expect her to be here—you know how the town elders are, they wouldn't buy anything from us if it didn't have the wholesome family feel to it, which is exactly what mothers and daughters selling cupcakes and cookies sounds like—wholesome, nice." Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'm even dragging Clementine to this, and she's not even really my mother."

"Clementine?" I clarified, raising my eyebrows.

"My step-mother—and yes, I know that her name is ridiculous. But she's nice enough and she's pregnant with my little sister, so I thought what the hell, I might as well keep her around." Rachel said, and I nodded in understanding.

"When's she due?" I asked with a grin.

"April 2nd." Rachel told me.

"My birthday!" I grinned, and Rachel's face lit up.

"So that's Derrick's birthday too," She noted, and I raised my eyebrows a little bit, and she blushed. I rolled my eyes a little bit: I liked Rachel, but if she thought Derrick would give her the time of day, she was in for a nasty surprise. Derrick had gone from being kind of an innocent, sweet kid at the beginning of the school year to being kind of bad-ass and intense recently. Derrick liked Leah, though I wasn't sure how much, and she was more on his level: Rachel, while she was really nice and smart, didn't have the edge of intense sarcasm that Derrick really liked in friends and girlfriends.

"Well, yes, we are twins and I think that's the way that works." I said with a grin, and she blushed redder.

"Can we bring maternal substitutes?" Danielle asked, and I glanced at her: she smiled tightly at me. Rachel smacked herself on the forehead, wincing instantly.

"Oh, God, I'm such an idiot--Dani, Ro, of course you can bring whomever, as long as she's a girl." Rachel told us apologetically. "I mean, if you're super tight on adults, I could lend one of you my aunt or something--" I grinned at her, and Rachel smiled relievedly. "Jesus, I always stick my foot right in my mouth--I'm so sorry, that was so rude."

"It's fine, Rache. It's not like you did it on purpose." I grinned at her, and Rachel smiled revievedly back, and I glanced at Kim, smiling slightly pleadingly at her. Kim just met my gaze with a tight smile, and I winced internally.

I was going to get quite the earful at the end of this.

---

"They were nice." I protested tiredly to Kim as I drove slowly back to Sam and Emily's house: it was _pouring_ out.

"Rosie, they invited me because they invited you--they knew you'd never come if I didn't." She explained to me an excessively patient voice as I slid carefully to a stop in front of a red light.

"Kim, sweetie, I love you, but I mean, I might have gone without you." I said in my nicest voice. "Not if they were like, trashing you, or something, but if they'd just invited me? There's a pretty good chance I'd go." I glanced nervously at her, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel. "I don't mean that the way it sounds..."

"No, I get it, Ro--you've got other friends, I don't have a stupid issue with that." Kim said in frustration, and I frowned. "My issue is that--Rosie, look. You're a popular kid, okay? Always have been--even before the boys phased, back when you were just you and they were just them: you've been the prettiest girl at the school since like, eighth grade or something."

"Is that a _joke_?" I demanded, staring at Kim. "Kim, what?"

"Listen to me, Ro." Kim said heatedly. "You've been gorgeous since the get-go. You're the tallest girl in the grade, your skin's clearer than all hell, you do your make up nice without making it alarming, and you've been best friends with the boys since like first grade. You're mature without being annoying, you're smart so parents don't nag their kids for hanging out with you. Every girl in our grade has envied you since, like, age ten." She sighed, shaking her head. "And yeah, you had a breakdown last year because the boys ditched you. And yeah, that sucked. But that just made you more accessible--Rosie, had you put one ounce of effort into being class president, you'd be standing where Rachel is. You're just that girl."

"Kim, what the hell are you talking about? I'm screwy as hell, I was secretly in love with my best friend for years before the forces of the universe had to shove forward and have genetics work out that he imprinted on me, I have been in a veritable depression since last winter--" I fell silent as my phone rang, and Kim's hand darted out to silence it. We exchanged dark looks. She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in her seat, and I checked both ways and glanced up at the now-green light before I rolled forward.

And then something plowed into my side of the car.

Kim and I screamed, and I twisted away from my door, turning my head away from the shattering glass of my window. My car screeched sideways, and slid to a stop just before the edge of the road: traffic around us screeched to a stop and I heard a dizzying array of horns and people shouting going off. "Holy shit." I breathed painfully, glancing at Kim, who seemed conscious, if alarmed.

"Hello, Miss Mehta, this is OnStar." A voice said in a calm tone over the speakers, and I blinked rapidly, taking a few shallow breaths, tears building in my eyes as the pain in my leg hit me--my left wrist was also at an awkward angle to my wrist. "We have recieved a signal that your car has been in an accident: do you want us to call emergency services?"

"Yeah--" I blinked, my vision tunnelling, but I already felt panic seize me as I heard someone nearby shouting--the driver of the other car, maybe? I looked at Kim, blinking slowly, trying to clear my vision, but as I realized it wasn't working, the pain in my leg really set in, gnawing further at my consciousness. "Kim, call Embry," I murmured as my eyes fluttered, my head sagging back, and Kim suddenly sprang into action.

"Rosie, don't do this--" She said desperately, and I felt like this _should_ have made me want to wake up, but I still just wanted to lay here and sleep. "Ro, wake up, c'mon, stop it. Please." She was begging me now, but begging wasn't enough to wake me.

"Stop it," I mumbled. "Sleepy." Kim lightly slapped my cheek, obviously trying to keep me awake, but it was driving me absoltuely crazy. "Please lemme sleep." I coughed out tiredly.

"I don't _care_, Rose Mehta, wake up--" Kim fired off, and then cursed even as I plunged into unconsciousness.

I woke up some time later, to the sound of crushing metal, and the noise terrified me to the point where I literally jolted awake, my head snapping up and making my vision spin to the point that it made me nauseous. Two firefighters, one with what could only be described as a giant pair of pincers, were standing beside my side of the car. "Hey, sweetheart, calm down, you're alright," One of the firefighters, a small hispanic woman told me loudly, trying to capture my attention deseperately, and the larger man stopped using the pliers to cut at my car, looking towards me worriedly as I sucked in a raspy breath. "You were in an accident. What's your name?"

"Rose Mehta," I said shakily, tears building in my eyes, and the woman sighed sympathetically. "Where's Kim?"

"The other girl in the car was taken to the hospital." The woman explained to me in a soothing voice, glancing at the other firefighter, who nodded in confirmation. "She has minimal injuries--we're more worried about you, sweetheart."

"What're those?" I asked shakily, my eyes glued to the giant pincer things they'd been using to cut at my car.

"Jaws of life--we've gotta cut you out of the car because of the way the car hit, we can't get the door off without them." She told me in a calm voice. "Your car wasn't going to be salvagable anyway," She told me softly. "But I'm sure your insurance will help cover it." I nodded, blinking as I considered these words. I had insurance papers--in the glove box. Walt had bought and paid for my insurance.

"Can you call my brothers and my boyfriend?" I asked her tearfully. "And they're not gonna cut me, right?"

"No, sweetheart, they're not." She told me easily. "And I'll call whoever you want--how about your parents, first, though? You seem pretty young," She pointed out. "Your Mom and Dad will want to come to the hospital, and we'll need them to sign to treatment forms and things..."

"No, my brother's my legal guardian, he's nineteen," I said in slurred voice, even as the man began to cut at my car again: he pinched at the bottom hinge of my door, and then the top hinge.

"Rose, sweetheart, stay with me." She ordered me loudly, and I nodded tearfully. "Tell me your brother's name."

"Sam Uley," I said softly, swallowing. "And I've got a twin, Derrick." I felt tears burn in my eyes again as the male firefigher finished satisfactorily cutting my car, evidently, because he handed off the jaws of life and, with the woman, lifted the car door up and then pulled it out.

"Rose, does your neck hurt?" She asked me seriously.

"No," I murmured, tears streaming down my face now, and the man who'd cut me out slipped one arm beneath my knees and one arm beneath my shoulders, lifting me out of the car and jolting my left leg. I didn't even scream: this last assault against what remained of my conscousness caught me, and I was out like a light in just a moment.


	20. In Which Someone Shows Up

Chapter 20

_I was, somehow, four again._

_And I wasn't questioning the logic of this--which was what made me believe that this was some sort of fever-dream. I'd been injured, or I was sick or something similar--I always had weird dreams when I was medicated, and this was no different._

_Derrick and I were somewhere dark—not impossibly dark, but the kind of darkness that comes with nighttime—and we'd been here for a while, because I was starving and had to go to the bathroom _really badly_. Mom wasn't here, and I was, for one reason or another, feeling hostile towards her, but more than that, I was freaking out. I hated the dark and the only late came from a glowing digital clock I could only sort of see in front of some seats in front of me—was I in a car? I couldn't really tell._

_I'd started crying a while ago, and Derrick and I had banged on a bunch of stuff, but that hadn't worked—and then Derrick had gone to sleep, because he was tired. I was too—but I couldn't sleep in the dark, not without Mr. Bear. He'd been my teddy bear until about the time I turned six._

_But then the fire trucks had come._

_J__ust like my teacher had said they would: fire trucks came when you needed help. Except the help they came to give wasn't the same as we needed—someone had seen the smoke that'd come from the fire started in the kitchen. But then Derrick had woken up and we'd started freaking out again and then the nice firefighters opened the doors and let us out. And, to be completely truthful, that's where my memory of this ends: the nice men with the big hats and the flashing trucks saved us, just like in a fairy tale, but instead of a noble steed, our heroes had the biggest trucks we'd ever seen. But I can guess at what happened next, mostly from Derrick's more precise memory and Walt's reluctant recount: they'd wanted to know how we'd gotten in there. After they took us to the hospital and put us into those scratchy pajamas and gave us some orange juice and a cookie, they asked us how we'd gotten into the trunk of our minivan while our mother recovered from smoke inhalation in her own hospital room. We had told them the truth: we'd been too loud, Mom had put us there. Six hours later, we were released from the Hospital, into Walt's custody. Walt and Derrick remember that as the day that it was finally confirmed that our mother was wired wrong, not just screwy, but actually ill._

_No, I remember that day as the day we learned to lie to Family Services._

---

"Hey sweetheart," Emily said warmly as I blinked open my eyes, and I blinked rapidly a couple times, before bringing my right hand up to scrub at my face tiredly. I winced as my fingers glanced over a scratch, and turned my face to look at my almost sister-in-law.

I was in a hospital room, and Emily was sitting in a seat beside my bed, a soft smile on her marred face. "Nice to see you among the living again." She continued after a moment, her voice gentler, and I smiled a little, before I realized I had an oxygen mask on, and I squinted uncomfortably, reaching up to take it off: Emily helped me out, putting it on my bedside table. "You and Kim were in an accident last night." She said softly to me, and it all came rushing back with those few short words.

"God," I muttered, pushing myself up into a sitting position as an overwhelming feeling of guilt settled in the pit of my stomach: I was going to collapse under the weight of it. I'd hurt Kim—and who was the other driver? Was he/she okay? Oh, God—what if there had been _kids_ in the other car? It'd been a big one, maybe even a minivan—Jesus. What was I going to do if I'd hurt _children_? "Is Kim alright? Is the other driver—I'm so sorry—Jared's gotta be ready to kill—"

"Sweetie, it's not your fault." Emily said calmly, cutting me off as she reached out to touch my shoulder. "And Kim's fine. The other car hit your side of the car—Kim has a minor concussion, she didn't even black out." Emily let me digest this information, pausing and watching my reaction to this: I didn't let my panic go, yet, though—what about the other driver? "She'll have a head ache for a few days, but she'll be fine." Emily added seriously after a moment, and I just waited her out: this conversation was taking too long. "And the accident wasn't your fault."

"There was a green light." I said miserably, covering my face with my hands. "And I wasn't on the phone, and I certainly wasn't _drunk_, and—"

"Sweetie, listen to me—it was _not_ your fault." Emily said emphatically, sitting down on the bed in front of me and putting both her hands on my shoulders: I looked up at her desperately, my eyebrows drawing together. "You need to calm down, first off—you came out of surgery a few hours ago, but you're by no means all cured yet." Emily murmured to me, her voice soothing even if her words weren't. "And the other driver ran a red light—he was a college kid and he was on the phone—he feels awful. But all of that aside, Rose, it wasn't your fault. You were, by all accounts, driving fine." Emily was being serious, I could tell.

I stared at her for a moment.

"You swear." I clarified.

"I swear." She said solemnly, dropping her hands from my shoulders. I nodded shakily, and she smiled a little. "You're so like Sam—so eager to place blame, even on yourself." I shot her a look—if Derrick heard her say that, he'd actually flip—and I glanced around a minute. Derrick, Embry, even Sam. I'd have expected at least one of them to be here.

"Where's…" I blushed. I didn't want to seem selfish or something—Derrick and Embry didn't _have_ to be here when I woke up. Even if Derrick was my twin. Even if I had followed him into this weird world of werewolves and vampires and weird wars over half-human half-vampire children. And Embry was allowed not to be here, even if that would have been sweet and über romantic. My boys had other people in their lives, and they were werewolves: they might have been on rounds, or something, in which case I should feel guilty and selfish for wishing they were here. But I had to finish that sentence—I had to think of someone new. "Kim! Where's Kim?"

Emily saw straight through me, and raised an eyebrow. "I assume by _Kim_, you mean _Embry_." She grinned when I blushed with embarrassment. "And he's getting some food. The kid's stomach was literally growling as loudly as he does when he phases, so I made him go to the cafeteria, even if the food there is utter crap. Derrick and Sam are there too." Emily's smile faded a little. "Jared and Kim are at Kim's house—they released Kim once a doctor told her how to treat a concussion."

"Please, if you see them before me—tell Kim I'm so sorry." I gushed, and Emily rolled her eyes.

"This wasn't your fault, and you have by far paid for any sins you may have committed—Rosie, you have a concussion, you _rebroke _a rib, a fractured wrist and a broken _kneecap_. I wasn't aware that was a thing, mind you, but apparently it is." Emily told me. "And please stop freaking out because I'm fairly sure the boys'll be back up in just a moment and they're all having their own tiny panic attacks." I snorted, imagining the unemotional Sam Uley _worried, _or Derrick displaying a feeling other than anger, because although I knew he had to have other feelings, he didn't show them. Ever.

"Derrick didn't phase or anything when he found out, right?" I asked nervously, and Emily snorted.

"Of course he did." She retorted. "You're one of, as far as I can tell, about two people on the planet that Derrick can stand, the other being Leah, god help him. He couldn't stand the idea of someone hurting his sister."

"What's going on with Leah and him?" I demanded pryingly, leaning forward.

"They're dating, as far as I can tell." Emily pulled a face. "As much as the two angriest people I know can date." She blushed, and I raised my eyebrows. "Not meaning that—I mean, look, they both have good _reasons_ to be angry. I didn't mean--"

"I know, I know." I told her with a reassuring shrug—and I winced. I pressed my hand to my ribs, and Emily frowned sympathetically, smoothing down my hair.

"Rosie?" Embry asked shakily from the doorway, and I looked up at him, my eyes wide. Embry crossed the space between us in a few shaky feet, pulling me into his arms, burying his face in my hair and taking a deep breath. I wound my arms around him shakily, squeezing my eyes shut, and Embry just clung to me. "Rose Mehta, for the love of _god_, I have never before in my life been so scared as when your brother got that freaking call--" He murmured in my ear, and I pulled back a little as he smoothed back my hair from my face, looking down at me--and then I kissed him as he sank down on the bed beside me. I pulled away sooner than I usually would, running out of breath fast, and Embry pulled back instantly, cupping my face with his hand, and I nuzzled it.

"Baby." He murmured to me, and my brother entered casually behind him, a crooked smile on his face.

"Oy, Embry, lemme say hi." Derrick ordered, and Embry turned to him, a sad look on his face. "Nope, I get dibs." Derrick said easily, and Embry released me reluctantly, coming to stand beside me. Derrick hugged me carefully, and I hugged him back, grinning shyly: Derrick was never this open about his affection for me. "Okay, Dork, you're not doing that again, got it?" He asked me, his voice a little muffled, and I just shrugged. "I get scared when I hear about this stuff, and you know how much I hate that."

"You were scared?" I asked, a little confused, and Derrick sighed tiredly, pulling back to look me straight in the eye.

"Ro." Derrick said carefully. "You're my freaking twin. If something happened to you…" Derrick shook his head. "I don't even know what I'd do. Of course I was scared." He rolled his eyes. "I'm not twelve, anymore. I can admit stuff like that, Rosie Posie."

"Yeah, you're not exactly the epitome of maturity, either." I rolled my eyes, and he laughed softly, but ruffled my hair fondly.

"Now, that said." Derrick began. "I will admit to not having the _most_ mature reaction--"

"You phased." I finished for him. "I heard." Derrick watched me wearily, evidently expecting a lecture, but I skipped it: it wasn't like Derrick could help his wolfishness. "Break anything?"

"Like everything in my room." Derrick acknowledged, crossing to the other side of the room and sitting down. I winced.

"You were upstairs?" I demanded. "Crap." Embry sat down on the bed behind me and pulled me flush against him: he pressed his lips to my temple. "Tell me you didn't try to get out." I pled with Derrick, but I already felt my irritation fade as Embry's arms wound around my waist.

"Not exactly… I did punch a hole in the wall between our rooms though." Derrick grinned sheepishly at me from across the room, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"Shit." I muttered. "You have to fix that." Emily laughed softly from the doorway--I hadn't even noticed that she'd stayed, between Der and Embry, but as I did, I grinned at her.

"I'm not a freaking contractor." Derrick protested. "I don't know the first thing about patching up a wall and it's not like we've got actual adults in our lives to teach me."

"Guess you better ask Sam for lessons then, hmm?" I demanded mockingly, and Derrick's face darkened predictably even as Sam came in: the boys had obviously finished their food. "Oh, Sam! Perfect. Derrick's just _dying_ to ask you something--"

"I'll kill you." Derrick growled at me.

"Hey," Embry protested unhappily, pulling me back a little, and I laughed softly, leaning back against my boyfriend and tilting my head to kiss him, my eyes sliding shut as his lips met mine. Sheer happiness bloomed in my chest, and I grinned against Embry's lips.

And then there was a startling silence around us. I pulled away from Embry, turning to look around at my room, which was quickly filling almost to bursting. But there was someone new standing in the doorway, kind of out of breath. Derrick quickly stood and crossed to stand between me and our new visitor, but I rose shakily to my feet, the brace on my leg making me wince: Embry rose beside me, his arm slipping around my waist. I stared quietly at the man before me, wondering exactly how long I'd been out that he could have gotten here in the time it took for me to wake up.

Walter Mehta had come to La Push.


	21. In Which Walt Comes and Goes

Chapter 21

"Rose, sweetheart, are you alright?" Walter asked me frantically, taking a few steps forward.

"What are you _doing_ here?" I demanded, swallowing, and then I glanced at Emily. She had wanted me to talk to Walter…had she called him? But she raised her hands defensively, shaking her head emphatically. My gaze flew back to my uncle. If he'd come without and invitation, he was even more dead.

"I don't care. Leave." Derrick ground out, rising to his feet, and I ran a tired hand through my hair. Embry's arm around me tightened, and I slid my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his chest. Walter's nervous gaze flicked to everyone in the room--Sam, Derrick, Embry, Emily and myself.

"I'm not leaving, Derrick." Walt said quietly to my brother, and he didn't even flinch as Derrick's glare intensified. "Not again." I straightened up again, an ironic smile floating to my lips. Walt was never here when we wanted him--and now that we didn't want him, he was here. Delightful.

"Who called you?" I asked softly.

"The hospital, I'm your next of kin." Walter murmured, and I leaned against Embry. "I changed it from your mother when you guys were little." I turned my face into Embry's chest, closing my eyes and regrouping: Embry ran a comforting hand through my hair, combing it out a little.

"I told the paramedics specifically to call Sam." I told him quietly, tilting my head back to look up at my boyfriend, and then turned back to face my uncle, my eyebrows knitting together into a sort of disapproving frown. Walt had straightened up a little, and his suspicious gaze flicked from Embry, to Sam (who had pulled Emily against him protectively), to Derrick. He glanced back at me--I knew his unspoke question: why were my friends so _big_. But I just raised my eyebrows in a silent challenge. Did Walter really think he had any right to judge who I chose for my boyfriend?

"So you all didn't go into…" I held his gaze carefully: he had to say what he'd tried to condemn us to. I was not going to make this easier for him. Never. "Foster care?" He finished reluctantly, and Derrick shifted, looking like he was about to attack Walter: Emily reached out a hand to put on his bicep, and his angry glare shifted to her. Derrick shifted, exhaling.

"Nope." I said shortly. "We didn't. Please leave."

"I refuse to ditch you guys again--" Walter began, and I stepped forward, crossing my arms across my chest angrily.

"So, we're no longer just another one of Mom's messes?" I asked innocently, taking yet another shaky step forward: Embry was hovering behind me, nervously. He knew I had to do this--confront Walt--but that didn't make it any easier for him to not be able to take care of me. "Because that's what it sounded like last time we talked. And I'll be honest, it didn't go over too well."

"I was in crisis, Rose." Walt murmured, and I rolled my eyes. "I'd just found out my sister had been abusing my niece and nephew, who were _my _responsibility: I thought anything would be better for you than--"

"You think _you_ were in crisis?" Derrick demanded in a hiss. "Rose broke her ribs because _I wasn't there_, Walt. D'you think that was fun for me?" Derrick's voice burned like acid, and Walt flinched. "And then we were almost put in foster care--you know they're not always safe, right? What if we'd been separated and gotten hurt? What would you have done _then_?" Derrick was shouting now, and I watched my twin worriedly.

"Your admission of guilt isn't an apology, Walter." I finished quietly. "We're not little kids anymore. We needed an adult and you are our adult--you have been since we were kids." I shook my head. "And thank God we've got a half-brother from Dad who was willing to take care of us." I swallowed. "But you _abandoned_ us."

"I didn't abandon you!" Walter said loudly, his voice desperate as he stepped forward. "Would I have jumped on a plane in the middle of the freaking night to fly across the country after you were in a car accident if I wanted to abandon you? _No_!" Walter ran a tired hand down his face, looking suddenly much older than I remembered. I'd used to feel bad for him when he got this look--trying to handle our lives, my mother's life and his own at one time--but now I was just mad. If he didn't want to be in charge of us, he shouldn't have made us think he would take care of us.

"Walt, you refused, in front of a social worker, to take us in until April. That's it. April." Derrick said slowly. "Then we would go back to being as independent as we've always been."

"You are _far_ from independent." Walter scoffed.

"How the hell did we get along for two months, then?" I demanded angrily. "We fooled the principal, sort of. I got medical attention from my injuries from Mom. I called Derrick in sick. Or they did." I glared at Walter. "Yeah, you were providing the money. But in the event we needed jobs, we'd have gotten them and it would have been okay." I felt hot tears burn my eyes as I finished, my gaze staring unfathomably at Walter: I still didn't understand how he could have done this. "You got what you wanted, Walter. We don't need you or anybody else to take care of us."

"That isn't what I wanted." He muttered, obviously embarrassed, as his glanced flicked to Embry and Sam and Emily. He had no idea who these people were--no idea that they read Derrick's mind on a daily basis or that Embry would one day be his nephew-in-law or that Sam and Emily were Sam and Emily. But I was in no mood to make introductions, I just wanted him out. Now. "I was just scared. I'm not halfway to mature enough to be taking care of you guys--"

"Sam's _nineteen_, Walter!" I said loudly, gesturing to our half-brother. "And he's doing a better job than you ever did--you just have commitment issues so paralyzing that even when we really needed you, even when Mom was abusive or drunk or hooking up with some vaguely threatening stranger or gone, you _weren't here_. And we were just-- Jesus." I cut myself off, swiping at my tearing eyes, and Derrick stepped forward, pointing at the door behind Walter.

"She was just in a car crash and came out of surgery an hour ago and is still cloudy and drugged from that. She does not need this, or you, right now." Derrick's voice was tight with how hard he was trying to not phase, and Embry's arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back against him. I felt uncomfortable within his embrace though: seeing Walter made me nervous, less trusting. "Leave." Walter looked past Derrick to me, but I just glared angrily, and Walter sighed, looking at Sam.

"You're their guardian?" He asked: he must have gotten that from us shouting and gesturing. Sam nodded once, solemnly. "Take care of them, okay?" His voice was soft. My eyes flicked to Derrick, who I knew was going to phase, even if it was those words alone. Walter had no right to be saying them.

"_Get the hell out._" Derrick ground out, before Sam could answer. Walter obeyed, exiting the room, and Derrick shut the door behind him, leaning against the door and looking at me seriously.

"Well, that was...eventful." Emily murmured softly.

"He'll be back." I said tiredly, raking some of my hair out of my face. "He'll come by the house or he'll come by the school or he'll go talk to Miss Marren--something. I know he won't give up that easily."

"He has no standing." Sam murmured. "He can't get you guys back, even if he brings it to court--he let you guys deal by yourselves for too long." He sounded worried, though, and I took a deep breath. I knew from experience that Family Court really wanted you with your blood relations, and from there, it was whoever had the best job and was thus able to best provide. Sam worked part time as a contractor, Emily handling some of the interior design stuff, when necessary. Their house was not made to house teenage twins. And Walter made a lot of money and had a big house in a nice neighborhood with a good school district. I knew who would win that fight, when push came to shove--especially because there was no proof of anything else. There was no proof of Walter's complete jackass behavior. There was proof of him taking care of us when we were little, though.

"Yes he does." I murmured tiredly. "He's been our legal guardian before--from when we were four to when we were seven. It was..." I swallowed, not detailing what had happened. None of the boys knew.

From what Derrick had explained to me about the shared pack consciousness, they really didn't. You had to actively think of something for the other wolves to hear it--and they did not have the ability to shift through the other memories--or maybe they did and they just didn't. I wasn't really clear on that. But I had talked to Derrick on how much the boys knew about our young childhoods, and, good news was, they knew little to nothing.

"What?" Embry asked after a moment, curiously. "It was...what?"

"Just the first time Mom was diagnosed." Derrick finished for me, turning away.

"What happened?" Sam asked quietly, turning to look at me.

"None of your fucking business." Derrick shot out, crossing the room to the seat on the other side of the bed. "Rose, get back in bed." His voice was confrontational, and I would have rolled my eyes if the situation hadn't been so specifically not funny. Derrick was upset and now lashing out--he was so incredibly predictable.

"Derrick." I said warningly, my voice serious.

"What, Rose?" He demanded loudly. "You're hurt and your blood pressure is at a point where it probably shouldn't be because our uncle just decided to show up--"

"_You_ are yelling at me when you're angry at our mom and our uncle." I said quietly, holding his gaze. Derrick fell silent, slumping back in his chair, and I just turned back to my bed, carefully lifting myself onto it: Embry helped me, and then pulled the covers up to my waist while I sat back against the pillows. We remained like that for only a moment before Derrick jumped to his feet and strode to the door, slamming open the door and going out. Embry sighed, glancing at him before smoothing down my hair and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "I'm gonna go with him--he's gonna need someone to fight with, if nothing else." Embry murmured, and I smiled a little, reaching up to cup his cheek.

"Thank you, babe." I murmured, and he nodded, pulling back and following Derrick. He closed the door behind him, and I ran my hands over my face tiredly.

"Angel, are you alright?" Emily asked worriedly. "You just woke up after all..."

"I'm fine." I murmured, with a shaky smile for Emily and Sam. Emily moved to sit back at the end of my bed, and Sam sat in the uncomfortably small chair beside my bed, shifting once or twice before leaning forward and just sitting on the edge.

"How d'you feel there, kid?" Sam asked me quietly.

"Like crap." I answered honestly. "My knee hurts and my wrist aches and I'm exhausted and it's four in the morning and my uncle's here and Derrick's having a mental breakdown." I sighed shortly, and Sam sighed.

"I'm sorry about all that." Sam said, sounding like he was just beginning a sentence, and when he didn't continue, I smiled a little, turning to him with one eyebrow raised and resting my cheek in my hand, smiling tightly.

"But you still want to know what happened?" I suggested, and Sam nodded sheepishly. I sighed. I didn't particularly want to tell Sam or Emily this, but they were my legal guardians. And my brother and sister-in-law. They'd be in my life forever. They deserved to know. "Derrick and I were four, I guess, and we'd been bouncing around the house and Mom was in the depressed portion of her cycle...she was sick and stuff." I swallowed. "She locked us in the trunk of the car for two and a half days. She knocked herself out with anti-depressants and nearly burnt the house down, so the neighbors called the firefighters. They found us." Emily's face displayed her horror openly, and even Sam's eyes darkened as he ran a hand through his short cropped hair: he'd gotten a haircut recently, at Emily's and my behest. "We were okay. A little malnourished but other than that... fine. Mom was convicted of child abuse, child endangerment, child neglect, pled insanity once nice Mr. Court Psychiatrist decided she was bipolar, she was committed to a mental hospital, got all her medications evened out and was released." I shrugged, swallowing. "Because it'd been previously undiagnosed, the judge was extremely lenient."

"Oh, God." Emily murmured, looking almost teary. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry..."

"It's fine." I murmured quietly, glancing between Emily and Sam. This was odd--although they were both not that much older than me, I'd only really ever known them--really known them, not just in passing--as my legal guardians. They were my grown-ups, and I didn't _need_ grown-ups: even so, it was nice having them here and taking care of me. It was nice sitting between two people who were family and loved me and cared that this had happened, even if it had been thirteen years ago.

"No, it's not." Sam murmured. "My dad should have done something, Rose. My dad..." Sam scrubbed at his face tiredly, sounding kind of exhausted but angry. "There are parents who bend over backwards for their children. My father, somehow, couldn't be bothered with you guys, even though you were his _children_." Sam said the word with reverence. "He had an obligation to you and Derrick. He should have intervened, taken custody once he found out what happened."

"He might not have even known that Mom was in the area, that we were in the area." I said softly.

"It's LaPush, Rose." Sam murmurmured, shaking his head. "There's the fact that my dad was a town elder so he must have known, and then there's the fact that it probably hit the LaPush Reporter at some point. And then there's gossip: he can't have missed what happened." Sam was already condemning his father, and for all that I didn't need him to, it felt nice, knowing he was on my side.

I continued though: "And your mom obviously wasn't quite aware of us." I shrugged. "Two four-year-olds are a lot to handle. Even for the non-mentally ill." Sam shook his head, obviously not buying it. "You were, what, six? Sam, he had a little kid already, he had a _wife_, I'm sure he wasn't particularly excited at the prospect of taking in two four-year-olds."

"Rosie. As your big brother, I'm telling you right now--family is family. Even if they're rambunctious four-year-olds. Dad had a responsibility to you as your father. He didn't hold up his end of the deal, and I plan to... I don't know, confront him. You're my sister and he didn't do right by you when he had the ability to. That's wrong." Sam said seriously, and I studied him for a long moment before I smiled at him, feeling a little teary even as I did. This was incredibly sweet. Even if he never did it, it was incredibly sweet to know that he felt that way.

Emily sniffled at the end of my bed, and Sam and I looked at her: there were tears in her eyes and she smiled at us. "You're so _sweet!" _Emily said happily, then she slid down the bed to hug me, hard. I grinned shyly, hugging her back as I ignored the pain in my ribs. Sam chuckled a little, sitting back in his chair.

"Em, sweetie, calm down, she's fine." Sam murmured to his imprint.

"Shut up." Emily ground out, and I laughed softly, smiling at Emily as she released me and smoothed my hair down. "She's so much like you Sam. It's _adorable_." Emily gushed.

"Kay." I said faintly, raising my eyebrows as I looked at Sam: what was Emily _talking_ about? Anger-issues, wolf-boy Sam Uley and I were a lot a like? If I'd had to match a Mehta twin to Sam, it would have been Derrick.

But there was a kind of warm feeling growing in my chest.

I'd never been told that I was like someone I was related to: Derrick and I were obviously so different, and aside from that, we mostly had Mom. Who was mentally-ill. And it would have been awkward for someone to tell me I was like her. And then there was Walt. And no one really knew him, or not well-enough to make a comparison. So it was weirdly, a first for me to hear I was like Sam. And it was pretty sweet.

I had a new family. And we weren't perfect. But Sam and Emily cared about me and I loved Embry and there was Derrick. Who would always be there because above all else, he was my twin.

Even as Emily went on to explain her words, I kind of tuned out of her explanation, smiling sort of ridiculously. I, Rose Mehta, daugther/niece of the screwiest people on the planet, had an actual, real family.

I wasn't quite sure what to do with that.


	22. In Which A Question is Asked

A/N:

Hey Guys!

Just addressing a worrying review I got regarding the titles of my chapters: using a format like "In Which..." is not plagiarism/copying/whatever. It's a widely used format. I was not the first person to think of it, and neither was IndependenceIndividuality (who is the author I was accused of copying—not by she herself, but by an anonymous reviewer who called herself Amber Marie). It's a thing people do. If you search in the fanfiction search box, you get 42,258 results—and this is under "story". This doesn't count chapter names, where's it's widely used as well. Besides that, I've never read IndependenceIndividuality's work, though I'm sure it's very good, so I can't have copied it. And aside from all of _that_—plagiarism's disgusting. I'd never do it.

So. If, for some reason, you feel I've plagiarized/copied you or anyone else, please, contact me and we can either work out that I _haven't_ or I'll change my chapter names.

xoxo

* * *

Chapter 22

"Love, I'm _not going to fall_." I said exasperatedly to Embry as I stood in Emily and Sam's kitchen, washing dishes. I was, miraculously, alone in the house: Emily was making wedding plans for June (when they were getting married), and the boys were out hunting vampires, or other things. Embry was babysitting Claire, actually, for Quil, and I'd offered to come along, but Claire's parents really only knew Seth, Quil and Embry, at this point. And were really only comfortable with those three taking care of their four-year-old. And even then, imprinting had creepered them to the point that they'd gotten weird with the boys. We'd decided not to add me into the mix because of how Embry and I couldn't be in the same room without, like, making out. And us making out wouldn't have been a great way to introduce Claire's parents to imprinting _without_ romantic love.

I'd been released from the hospital two days after the car accident, and I still didn't know who'd crashed into me, mostly because I didn't want to. I wasn't angry right now—he was some stupid college kid, right now, and more importantly, anonymous. But if I met him, and actually talked to him and was able to put a face on the person that'd destroyed my car and broken my knee and my wrist and my ribs, I'd have gotten pissed.

Anyway, it'd been two days before winter break let out by the time I figured out how to walk around with the brace on my leg, so I'd just kind of stayed out of school (with Sam and Mr. Cabot's good graces) and now it was a week and a half before Christmas. And I was excited for Christmas for the first time in my life. Embry and I had exchanged gifts every year from the get-go, and obviously Derrick and I had. But I'd only ever gotten three presents for Christmas (the third from Walt), and I was excited because we were making a big deal out of it—I mostly suspected because Derrick and I had joined the Pack and Company, but I was going to work with it. I'd bought, like, five hundred different presents, now—one for everyone and two for a couple of the important people—and I was actually really into the holiday now. Emily thought it was adorable, Derrick though it was ridiculous, and Sam just watched me decorate the house with a bemused, pitying look from the couch most of the time. Sam felt bad for Derrick's and my childhood (as if it were his fault) and did a lot of observance with bemusement and pity.

"I know you're coordinated on a good day, angel," Embry said serious and soft: he was intent on getting me to agree with him. Normally I would have been bothered by this, but I could be irritated with Embry: instead, I felt a surge of affection for my wolf-boy. "But. It's a bad day. And if you fell, you wouldn't be able to properly catch yourself, because of the cast on your arm and you're _alone_—God, Ro, what if—" I exhaled shortly, cutting him off in the middle of his panicky rant.

"Embry." I growled. Embry fell silent for a moment, obviously scared by my tone.

"We sure _you_ don't turn into a werewolf?" He demanded after a moment, and I chuckled, causing him to laugh softly as I dried off my right hand on a paper towel. "It's not impossible." He said, and I could hear the grin in his voice as I crossed to the garbage can to throw out . I raised my left hand awkwardly to the cell phone squeezed between my cheek and my shoulder. "Seriously, you could be another Leah!"

"Speaking of Leah," I said in my best I'm-not-prying voice. "Let's hear about Leah and Derrick." Embry fell silent.

"Eh." He mumbled. My eyebrows flew up, and I stopped in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Eh?" I demanded. "Embry, spill."

"I... Can't you ask him?" Embry pled with me, his voice adorably desperate, but I cut him no slack.

"He wouldn't answer me." I said frankly. "Besides, he's Derrick. Derrick would rather scratch his nails on the chalkboard then share about his life." I snorted. "If we weren't twins he might have turned into an actual recluse by now."

"Then I'm uncomfortable sharing..." Embry murmured. "I have access to his brain that I have no right to, Ro. I shouldn't share what I know from that."

"But I'm your imprint." I told Embry easily, grinning. "I will one day marry you, bear your children—" I was joking, but I couldn't help the softness that hit my voice on the words, "So I get something out of this weird in-your-mind relationship you have with my brothers." I finished, my voice soft. My words hadn't had quite the impact I intended them to: now Embry and I were just standing here, in oppisite parts of La Push, on the phone, thinking about each other and our future.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment before Embry spoke. "When one day?" Embry asked me, his voice gentle and soft and incredibly romantic. I bit my lip, considering his words as I leaned my head against the doorjamb, smiling at no one. "I—" I began softly, then cut myself off as my voice caught: this was just too sweet. I stopped, taking a deep breath. I could do this. "Are you... I mean... soon, maybe?" I asked softly, tucking a few strands of hair behind my ear. I paused, then I felt a surge of absurd happiness within me. "I'd be Rose Call." I whispered, excited.

"When?" Embry murmured. I paused, seriously considering this as I walked carefully over to the couch and sank down.

"Are you..." I paused. "Is this a proposal?" My words were astoundingly forward, and I wondered what the hell was wrong with me that I felt this comfortable with _anyone_. There was silence on the other end, and I took a sharp breath. "Em? I need an--"

"Yes." Embry murmured. "Yes, it is." There was a pause. "And I'm actually _not_ at Claire's. I'm outside." His voice was kind of furtive and rushed, now.

"Outside where?" I asked solwly.

"Outside Sam and Emily's house." He confirmed my throughts.

"Why?" My voice was faint.

"Because I'm not such a big jackass that I'd propose to a girl over the phone." Embry murmured to me, a hint of laughter in his voice. I got up slowly, walking to the front hall. I brushed my fingers over the doorknob before I swung it open, to face Embry, who was in his Sunday Best, on the doorstep. He grinned at me, snapping his ancient phone shut and slipping it in his pocket. I ended the call on the house phone, placing it on a table beside the door, and stared at Embry as he grinned at me, holding out one of those little velvet boxes. "We don't have to get married right away." He murmured, opening the box to show me a ring: silver banded with a diamond. "I mean, you should probably go to college. And graduate, maybe." He was rambling, and I felt tears of happiness bubbled in my eyes as I smiled, lifting my hand to cover my mouth. "Or we could get married one summer. Or in the middle of the year--but then our honeymoon would have to wait for one of your--" I covered his mouth with mine, a tear running down my face as I slipped my arms around his neck, pulling him flush against me. He pulled back after a moment, bumping his forehead against mine, grinning boldly as he took the ring and snapped the box shut, slipping it back into his pants' pocket. He took my left hand and shakily slipped on the ring. It went on and I grinned harder, somehow. "Rose Mehta, will you marry me?"

"Of _course_," I said with a soft sob, and then I was in Embry's arms, kissing him and wondering how the hell I got this lucky.

---

"Rosie Posie!" Sam called as he came in the house with Emily a few hours later. I got up, crossing the living room to look into the foyer: Jake was with them, as was Quil, and I leaned against the door jamb, grinning hugely as they kicked their shoes off under the table. "Hey kid," Sam said with a brief smile back when he saw how big I was grinning, and when it didn't let up, he stopped, turning to face me. "Why so happy?" Emily took off her scarf, turning to me, and Jake and Quil both glanced up.

"Embry came over this afternoon," I began, grinning bigger, "And he, um, proposed." I held out my hand, and Sam's mouth dropped open. Quil looked kind of pale, and Jake grinned at me. Emily screamed a little and came forward, hugging me tightly.

"Oh my God, Rosie, that's _perfect_," Emily cried, pulling back to gently hold my hand, inspecting the ring. "Oh, gosh, this is a _beautiful_ ring--"

"I know!" I cried happily. "And I mean, we won't get married for a while--I wanna graduate college and stuff--but he gets all that..." I laughed a little, out of sheer happiness, and as Emily detangled herself from me, Jake came over and pulled me against him with an arm around my shoulders and inspecting the ring.

"He _better_ get all that." Sam grumbled.

"Sam, lay off." Jake ordered, glancing up at my brother before he looked down at me. "This is really cool, Rosie." He told me with a grin.

"Sa-am." I dragged out my big brother's name, pouting as I looked up at him. "Please be happy."

"If--no, _when_, he treats you like freaking empress for the rest of your life, I will be happy." Sam offered, and I blinked, then swallowed, frowning as I straightened up, glancing up at Jake.

"You're actually unhappy." I said slowly.

"Not unhappy--defensive, worried, maybe--but not unhappy." Sam disagreed as he passed me, going into his living room, and I looked at Emily, my eyes wide.

"He's your big brother, angel," Emily said with a tight smile as she smoothed down my hair. "He's hard-wired to think of you as a little kid and he never had you as a little kid." She smiled tightly. "I'll talk to him, don't worry about it." She murmured, and I shook my head, smiling tightly at her as I followed Sam. Jake and Quil flopped down on the couch and Emily followed nervously.

"Sam," I said gently from the doorway of the kitchen: Sam had gone to the kitchen to get a beer out of the fridge, and then he turned and passed me again, going to sit in a chair in front of the TV. I followed him, standing in front of the TV. Jake made a noise of protest but Quil shushed him. "Sam, there's no avoiding it, we need to talk about this and sooner's better than later."

"Rose." Sam said quietly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That sucks." I said, running a hand through my hair. "Cause I do." Sam turned off the TV to look up at me.

"Ro, you are seventeen-years-old." Sam muttered. "You're too young to be thinking about _marriage_--"

"Says the nineteen-year-old whose been engaged for a year and a half." I paused, glaring now. "A year and a half ago," I said exaggeratedly, "Weren't _you_ seventeen?"

"Eighteen." Sam retorted sharply.

"That's how old Embry is." I pointed out. I held up my hands. "But aside from that--Sam, I shouldn't have to prove anything to you." I frowned. "You know Embry, you must trust Embry--"

"I trust Embry with _my _back when we're fighting a bloodsucker, sure." Sam said angrily. "I trust Embry insofar as Derrick is concerned. I don't trust freaking _anyone_ with you." Sam glared at me. "Ro, you're accident prone as hell and my freaking sister and you had the childhood from hell and you're smarter than everyone else in this town. You belong at NYU or Georgetown or something, and--"

"Not _this_ again." I said angrily. "Sam, I like LaPush." I said in frustration. "I like you, I like Derrick, I like all of the wolf-boys who were my best friends through high school, I like Emily, and I like Kim. And I love Embry. Why the hell wouldn't--Jesus, Sam, I'm not two-years-old and Embry's never treated me badly."

"Last year." Sam cited.

"Oh, my _Go-od_." I dragged out. "Sam, what the hell? I've been your sister for like, a month and a half! Why are you ruining this?" I scowled. "This is supposed to be one of the best things that's ever happened to me, Sam, and it still is, but it _sucks_ that I can't share it with my older brother."

"You're just--Ro, you're too young, okay?" Sam said, sitting forward. "Seriously."

"Sam, I'm not too young." I said tiredly. "I'm turning eighteen in April anyway--I've lived on my own for most of my life and I managed to fool pretty much everyone in my life into thinking my mom was higher functioning than she was. So I'm pretty freaking mature." I swallowed. "Sam, c'mon."

"Sam c'mon what?" Derrick asked as he came in the living room, falling into another unoccupied armchair. I turned to him with a muted grin now, holding out my hand. He looked at me, then down at my hand, his eyes widening infinitesimally, before he pushed himself back to his feet and grabbed my hand. "Is this...?"

"An engagement ring. From Embry." I said softly, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind my ear, and Derrick sighed, but glanced up at me with a tired grin, pulling me against him in a hug. I hugged him back tightly, appreciating the gesture. Derrick was a good brother, at the end of the day--even if the day was incredibly, impossibly long. "Sam's being obnoxious." I murmured to my twin as Derrick released me, and he glanced at Sam.

"How are you so okay with this?" Sam wanted to know, looking outraged.

"Embry talked to me about it when she was in the car crash." Derrick said, shrugging as he crossed back to his seat, then hesitated, glancing up at me. "Sit, cripple."

"You're going to hell, and I will, thank you." I said with a brief smile for Derrick as he perched on the arm of the chair.

"He talked to _you_?" Sam demanded. "Don't you usually talk to the dad?"

"Well, barring giving your father a nasty surprise," Derrick said easily, "I was the next best choice." He shrugged. "And I kind of slammed him into the wall and made him promise that if he ever hurt you he wouldn't run when I came to kill him. And when Embry just flipped out and told me to stop acting like such a jackass and Rosie could take care of herself--I thought it was okay." He shrugged.

"Derrick, you're supposed to beat up Embry with me." Sam moaned, sinking back in his chair. "We're a team, here." I winced, glancing at Derrick, who seemed to restrain himself, because he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at me. I leaned against him with a pleading smile--be nice to Sam, for me. Derrick exhaled heavily.

"Derrick's on my team." I told Sam with a grin after a minute. My grin faded, though, and I swallowed. "Please be nice?" I pled after a second. "You're my brother. I want you at my wedding--which will happen in a really long time--but still." Sam looked torn, then he sighed.

"Congratulations, Rosie." He said in a dread-filled voice. I grinned hugely, and Derrick ruffled my hair: I glared up at him, and he grinned back down at me. Sam pulled a face, obviously needing to ammend what he said. "But I retain the ability to crush Embry like a bug in the event he ever hurts you."


	23. In Which I Meet Daddy

"Merry Christmas!" Emily chirped as bounced into the living room five days later. I squinted tiredly at her, then yawned, turning my bleary gaze back to the cup of coffee I was holding onto. "Where're Sam and Derrick?" Emily asked, sounding disappointed.

"Hunting some vamp or something." I shrugged a little.

"But it's Christmas!" Emily protested, pouting a little.

"Turns out vampires don't care." I said, shaking my head a little, and Emily frowned but walked into the kitchen to pour herself some coffee. I just inspected the Christmas tree in front of me.

It was outrageously large, like twelve feet or something, and had been decorated within an inch of its life, with garlands and ornaments. There were presents all under it, and I just grinned at it a little, taking a sip of coffee. This was the most serious Christmas I'd never seen.

There was a knock on the front door, and I frowned as I rose to my feet: had Sam forgotten his key when he left, or something?

I crossed to the door and opened it, my eyes widening instantaneously as I saw a very large Native American man with a big grin. "Hello?" I asked uncertainly.

"Hey, I've come to see my son, Sam Uley—he still live here?" The man asked, and I blinked frantically. This was my father.

"Emily?" I called back into the house, turning to face the hallway, and my soon-to-be sister-in-law came into the front hall.

"My, my, Emily Denver!" The man said with a jovial grin as he pretty much pushed past me and hugged her, and Emily hugged him back lightly, patting his back before pulling away. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart!" He said happily, and I took a shallow breath. "Emily, my dear, who's this?" The man asked, as he glanced at me, and Emily's frantic gaze flicked to me before she looked back at the man.

"It's..." She stopped, and the man shot her a peculiar look before he looked back at me, studying my features.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" He asked with a good-natured grin, adding to my uncertainty. No man who was this...christmas-y would ever abandon his children with a mentally ill woman. That... wasn't possible.

"Rose." I said softly, building up courage. "Mehta."

There was a beat of silence before the man's eyebrows rose a little bit. "Emily?" He asked quietly.

"I know you're--I mean I know you're my father." I said shakily, not giving Emily a chance to talk. "You--and--my mom's Shannon Mehta."

"Oh." He said softly. "Okay." He paused. "It's nice to--I mean, I--I wanted to know you." He said awkardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I didn't know who you were." I said rawly. "I never even knew your name." I paused. "Derrick's a werewolf. Like Sam." I was having a brain aneurysm or something: this was not the way you talked to your father the first time you met him. I was supposed to--I don't know, be nicer. But for the first time, I felt _hostile_ towards him. And the worst part was, I'd predicted this reaction: I'd _told_ Sam I didn't want to meet his father, my father. It wasn't worth the pain it would cause.

"Your mom didn't want me there." He said quietly.

"My mom is sick." I retorted, glaring a little. "She was sick then, too--she's got Bipolar disorder." I crossed my arms across my chest, my brand-new engagement ring scraping my arm a little. "I don't think you're supposed to listen to crazy people when they ask to be left alone with two small children."

"She--she wasn't being medicated for it when I knew her." He sounded kind of dazed.

"Yeah, but she was screwy by then." I said accusingly.

"Rose." Emily said warningly, and I fell silent for a moment out of respect for her. "You've got to understand, Henry, she's had a rough time, she didn't even what to come here--" Emily said carefully, before cutting herself off. "Look, maybe you should come back when Sam and Embry and Derrick are here."

"Embry?" Henry Uley, father of Sam and Derrick and me, echoed hollowly.

"He imprinted on Rose." Emily murmured. "They're engaged."

"Wow. Congratulations." He said with a sad smile towards me, and I just glared at him stand-offishly. "Where's Shannon?" Mr. Uley asked quietly, turning to me.

"She abandoned Derrick and me in September." I said angrily.

"I talked to Sam in October, he didn't mention you all living with him then." Mr. Uley murmured.

"Look, Henry, you need to talk to Sam first." Emily murmured when I didn't respond.

"Derrick and I lived on our own for two months." I murmured, and then I raised my eyebrows, smirking. "Until Sam called social services on us because he felt he had a duty to us as our older brother." I pushed some of my hair out of my face. "It's interesting how different father and son are."

"Sammy's been avoiding my calls." Mr. Uley realized aloud.

"Congratulations." I said falsely. "You've successfully alienated all three of your children." I glared at him. "Now please leave."

"This is my son's house." He said after a moment, weakly. "I have every right to be here."

"Fine then, have it your way." I muttered, turning on my heel and grabbing my car keys from the front table. "I'm going over to my house, Em, send Embry over when he gets here." I tore open the door and jogged down the front steps, walking out to my car--before someone's hand closed around my arm, and I spun around angrily. "_What_?" I demanded of my father.

"Rose, I swear to God, had I known--" Mr. Uley tried to say, but I wasn't buying it.

"How could you not _know_?" I demanded, my eyes flashing. "I can't even--God, what kind of idiot _are_ you?" I asked scathingly. "Her moods rocket from suicidal to pissed off to bubbly and back again! You can't _miss_ that, even if it takes months, it's _impossible_!" I glared. "And let's just say, for entertainment's sake, that you did try to make us part of the family, despite the fact that _my_ mother was a girlfriend outside your marriage and _my brother and I_ were disastrous mistakes--why didn't Sam _know_? If you really wanted us to be part of your family, how the hell didn't--"

"What's going on?" Embry was suddenly standing beside us, his dark, angry eyes on Mr. Uley. "Let her go." His hissed after a half-second, straightening up to look more intimidating than before.

"Embry, kid, I'm having a conversation with my daughter." Mr. Uley said angrily.

"Oh, _shut up_," I groaned. "I think in order to be a parent, you have to _raise_ me." I shoved him back with my free hand. "You're just some bastard that slept with my mother and dropped her once she had your kids." My volume wasn't anything special, but my words evidently stung enough because he released me, and Embry, knowing me well, let me spin back to my car so I could get inside.

"Your uncle wouldn't let me near you!" He called after me as my hand was on the doorhandle. Embry shoved him backwards lightly, and he stumbled back. He ignored it, though, continuing to talk when he realised I'd stopped. "Walter, your uncle. When you were four. I wanted custody--even Terri agreed it was the right thing to do even though she wasn't thrilled with the idea of Shannon's kids." Terri was Teresa Uley, Sam's mother. There was a pause, and I just scowled at my car door, the cogs turning in my head.

Mom had flipped, Walter had gotten custody. He'd said he was eighteen even though he was seventeen. But the police wouldn't have tried the uncle first. They would have tried to find the father. And even after the youngest person on earth showed up to take care of two four-year-olds they'd keep trying.

I swallowed my throughts and tore open my door, getting in my car and slamming the door shut in one fluid motion. I jammed my keys in the ignition and took off, appreciating the hugeness of my car as I tore down the driveway, onto the street, and drove out of sight.

I don't know when I made the decision as to my destination, but I somehow found myself going into the main street, not towards my home, and I stopped dead in front of the only inn in the entirety of this town: Rachel's Step-mom's inn. I tore into the lobby and to the front desk. "Where's Walter Mehta?" I demanded seethingly: I _knew_ he was here. He hadn't left yet, I knew, because he kept leaving me messages that asked Derrick and me to meet him for some meal or coffee or anything, so we could talk. And there was only one freaking inn in the town. There wasn't even, like, a holiday inn.

"Room 7." The woman behind the counter told me with a tight smile, and I slammed up the steps, storming down the upstairs hallway and pounding on his door. I waited barely a second before I attack the door again, knocking furiously. Walter pulled open the door, looking scruffy in his pajama pants and undershirt, but I just glared at him.

"Rose." He said surprisedly, raising his eyebrows as he tried to catch up to what was going on.

"Did you ask Mr. Uley not to see Derrick and me?" I demanded angrily. Walter blinked.

"Yes." He said after a second, and I didn't hear a single shade of apology in his voice.

"What the _fuck_?" I exploded at him, and Walter grabbed my arm and pulled me into his room frantically, glancing around in the hallway. "What--Why--Why would you _do_ that?" I shouted. "You're telling me Derrick and I had a chance to be raised _here_ by actual present, fully-functioning _adults_ and instead we got _you_?!" I demanded loudly.

"Rose." Walter said quietly. "Mr. Uley was married with a young son--"

"You're a goddamn _bad person_!" I shouted at him, shoving him backwards angrily. "I spent my _childhood_ picking up after my mother and praying that Derrick and I wouldn't get taken away by Child Services and when it did happen I knew you would protect us and then you didn't--and you're telling me, I had a chance to be _normal_?" I was screaming now, but I couldn't even help it. I was losing it. "You're just--ah! You're selfish and narcissitic and awful! You wanted us around because you were too fucking _proud_ to admit that we had a father who would have raised us and a step-mother who would have tolerated us! We could be normal, Walter! You screwed us _over!_ You are the _entire_ reason that Derrick and I are messed up and traumatized and have social services files as thick as our thumbs!"

Walter stared at me for a long moment, blinking. "I'm-- not sorry for what I did, Rose."

"_Why the hell not?_" I screamed at him.

"Because you and Derrick are like my kids now. I loved having a hand in--" I slapped him, hard, my anger actually bubbling over, and he fell silent mid-sentiment, looking shocked. That was not the expected reaction.

"You may love us like we are your children," I ground out angrily, fisting my hands in his shirts and pulling him up a little: Walter looked genuinely frightened now, but I just couldn't have cared less. "But we do not love you. You have _ruined_ us. Real fathers _do not _allow this to happen to their children." I shook my head. "It's cruel." I released him, turning and sprinting out, leaving his door open and running downstairs and out to my car, getting back in the driver's seat. I slammed on the pedal, pulling out of my parking spot and taking off.

I maneuvered the streets automatically, choosing any road randomly, and ended up in front of Emily and Sam's home again, forty five minutes later. I pulled into the driveway and braked gently, pulling my keys out and getting out of my car carefully. I slammed my door shut and walked into the house cautiously, appreciating the lack of Mr. Uley's car in the driveway. I walked into the living room and found Embry, Jared, Paul and Sam there.

I sank down between Embry and Jared, glaring forward and Sam glanced at me. "You alright?" He asked me.

"Walter told your dad to stay away." I said, beyond angry, still. I shook my head--I still just didn't understand. "He did this to us--your dad is--blameless." I snorted at how preposterous that was, but continued, because Sam deserve to hear this as much as Derrick or me. "Your dad tried to see us and Walter told him to get the hell out of dodge." I glared. "I hate both of them, still."

"Aww, I have a prodige of cynicism and anger." Paul cooed mockingly from his armchair, and I turned to him, glaring angrily. He raised one eyebrow for a moment before he dropped his gaze. "The student surpassed the master," He noted in a higher voice, and I cracked a small smile, before it dropped just a moment later.

"It's okay to be sad, Rosie." Jared murmured. "No would think any less of you"

"I'm not sad, _Dr. Phil_." I hissed at him. "I'm fucking _pissed off_--every single adult in my life acts like a damned _two-year-old_!"

"I suddenly understand how you and Derrick are twins." Jared observed. I frowned a little at him, confused. "He gets angry and lashes out too." He pointed out, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm moving to freaking _antarctica_." I muttered angrily. "Neither Mom nor Walt nor Mr. Uley nor Mr. Cabot can find me there. I can just live in an igloo and meet penguins and _not hate_. It will be nice." I finished my little rant angrily, and Paul snorted in laughter.

"Antarctica's climate isn't compatible to werewolves." Embry noted, grinning at Jared over my head: I scowled at him and his arm slipped around my waist, pulling me flush against his side.

"You are making fun of me." I said, scowling a little. "I'm having the worst Christmas ever and you're _teasing_ me."

"I knew all that hard work in school would pay off one day." Jared said with a grin. "You can now recognize teasing."

"I hate you." I whined. "Quit it."

"You suggested moving to antarctica." Embry said, chortling a little. "How do we not mock you for that?"

"I'll punish you." I threatened.

"I'm a werewolf. It won't be too bad" Embry reminded me. My eyes narrowed, and I gave it a moment's thought before I flipped over, so I was straddling Embry's lap, a seductive smile playing on my lips. The boys stopped laughing as my lips brushed the base of Embry's neck, then right under his ear, then against his jaw. My hands rubbed up his chest before circling to his back, and he sat up so I was flush against him. Finally, my lips met his, his arms widing around me strongly, me almost getting lost in how much I was absolutely in love with Embry--before I pulled away, and gave him an evil grin, pushing myself to my feet. He blinked, then scowled.

"Rose--hey, unfair." He complained, grabbing my hand swiftly and trying to pull me back onto his lap, and I just pulled away and sat down on Sam's ottoman, flashing a grin back at Embry, who looked thoroughly displeased. Jared snickered, but it was Sam who spoke next.

"I understand your need to punish Embry, Rosie," Sam began. "But do me a favor an next time, make the punishment something that _doesn't_ make me cringe."


	24. In Which We Have A Chat

"So, we have to be nice?" Derrick called from Sam and Emily's bedroom as I straightened the pillows on the couch. Derrick was in there, stealing one of Sam's ties. "We can't even be a _little_ mean?"

"He's not a bad guy, Der." I called back to him, glancing towards the half-open doorway.

"He's our father and _you_ didn't meet him till last week. I still haven't met him." Derrick pointed out in his most reasonable voice. "Doesn't that make him _kind_ of a jackass?" Derrick wheedled, and I snorted, rolling my eyes in the general direction of Sam and Emily's bedroom.

It'd been three days since Christmas, and there'd been an odd flurry of angry and apologetic phone calls between Sam and Mr. Uley, who I was still awkwardly addressing as Sam's father and not my own. But Dad—the concept of calling someone my dad seemed outrageously private. And I barely knew Mr. Uley.

Mr. Uley was coming over today, to see just Derrick and me, not Sam, in an effort to get to know us, or something. I wasn't exactly clear on why this had to happen. But it was, and I'd been struck with this impossible desire to impress him, somehow.

"Walter wins that title." I reminded Derrick as I stepped back from the couch and cast a critical eye over the living room. "He's the reason that we didn't get to live with Mr. Uley." My voice got a little softer, and Derrick walked into the hallway as I spun to face him. He looked at me carefully for a moment. "I'm fine." I told him quietly, answering the unspoken question.

"I know, I know. You're super girl." Derrick said with a grin. "But if you want to call Embry in for reinforcements, there's time," He told me, his gaze flicking to my new engagement ring. I smiled a little at Derrick, touched. "When's that happening, by the way?" He asked, gesturing to my hand and the ring on it.

"Probably after I graduate." I said, shrugging a little. "I just…" I fell silent. "I'm not ready to let go of my career." I admitted to my twin, running a hand through my hair. Derrick raised his eyebrows. "I applied to Whitman, and Northwest." I murmured.

"Those are a couple of hours away." Derrick said appreciatively.

"I'd be home every weekend." I said hastily. I paused. "I just—put a hell of a lot of work into high school. And I know Embry can't leave. But maybe I could be a doctor, or an architect or a writer or a freaking school teacher—I just want a career." I shook my head. "There's nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home Mom, but I'm not cut out for it." There was a moment of silence.

"Good." Derrick said after a moment.

"Good?" I questioned.

"I'm glad you're going to go to college. I'm—" He pulled a face, "Proud, and crap." I snorted in laughter, and Derrick grinned a little. "What was your admissions essay on?" He asked curiously.

"Mom." I admitted quietly. Derrick's gaze sharpened, and I just met it evenly. The doorbell rang, and I turned to answer it. I turned away from Derrick and walked towards the front door, pausing in front of it to smooth down my skirt, before I opened the door with a shy smile for Mr. Uley.

"Rose!" Mr. Uley greeted warmly, and Derrick stepped up behind me. "And you must be Derrick," He said happily to my brother. "It's so great to finally meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too." Derrick said lowly, cracking a small smile for the man, and I stepped back within the doorway to let Mr. Uley enter. Derrick stalked into the living room, and my smile became a little strained.

"Let's sit in the living room." I suggested, crossing in front of Mr. Uley, and I moved out of the hallway into the living room, turning and sitting on the couch next to my brother. Mr. Uley followed me and sat in the armchair on Derrick's side of the couch.

"Would you like something to drink?" I suggested in my best hostess voice, and Mr. Uley smiled at me.

"No thanks, sweetheart." He said sweetly. There was a pause. "So I guess you want some answers, hmm?" He suggested, and I raised my eyebrows at how blunt he was being. "Well, I'll give you the short version." He said easily. "I imprinted on your mother. But I was married, and I love Terri. And I love Sam."

I blinked.

"You… imprinted on my mother?" I asked after a moment, more confused than anything as I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and clasping my hands together. "What are…the chances of that?" I asked slowly, my eyebrows drawing together in a frown. "I mean, the chances of you imprinting on her and then Embry imprinting on me—" I stopped myself, shrugging a little. "That being random has to be slim-to-none."

"There's a genetic component." Mr. Uley acknowledged with a small smile: I felt a surge of sympathy for the man, who looked almost saddened by the conversation topic. "Like everything else with us werewolves—Sam fell in love with Leah, but _imprinted_ on Emily. Em and Leah are second cousins." I raised my eyebrows, and Derrick stiffened.

"Derrick's, um, dating Leah." I said with a tight smile, and Mr. Uley winced, blushing in embarrassment. I elbowed Derrick—then would have been a good time to jump in with a "that's okay"—but typical to my emotionally-stunted twin, he said nothing.

"Sorry," Mr. Uley began with a apologetic smile. "But—that proves it." He pointed out. "There are specific genes, we think—" He continued, but I interrupted him again with an embarrassed grin.

"We?" I questioned quietly, frowning a little. Who had he been talking to about this?

"The town elders." He clarified. "I'm one of them, though I hardly consider forty five _elderly_…"

I grinned a little bit at the joke, but we fell into an uncomfortable silence again, before another question struck me. "Um…" I hesitated. "Dad?" My voice was so uncertain that it turned into a question, but he grinned at the word, so I forced myself not to recind it. "How—I mean, Embry and I… I can't imagine… not being able to be with the wolf who imprinted on me." I shook my head in confusion, pushing some of my hair out of my face. "I mean, Embry phased last winter and when he came back to school, he imprinted on me. But because there was that war with the vampires and because he ditched me so I didn't want to see him and Derrick didn't want him to see me—" I cut myself off: I was rambling about last year's drama to my father. "Anyway," I continued, flapping my hand at him distractedly to demonstrate time passing, "apparently Embry was a mess all summer. And this year, when we—we broke up, sort of, for like ten seconds—he was a mess." I shrugged. "How'd you do that without Mom? And how'd Mom… take it?" I shrugged. "I don't remember."

"I loved Terri." Mr. Uley said quietly. "I couldn't divorce her—for so many reasons." He shook his head. "She's a devout Catholic, and knew that it'd break her heart if we got our marriage annulled, and she was my wife." Mr. Uley sighed. "I believed in the sanctity of marriage, even if I'm not Christian. I'd sworn to her I'd be there forever. And I intended and still do, to follow through." Mr. Uley's words were so sincere that they hurt my heart: the poor man. He'd been a little less than thirty when this had all happened. That was the impossible choice. "And I loved and still love Sam, who was my son." He shook his head. "I couldn't pick between you all. But I knew that Terri had—I mean, I loved your mother in an unfathomable way." He murmured. "Your mother was my center of gravity—but Terri was my sun. She loved me because she wanted to. Your mother loved me because of a weird tribal mythology thing." He shrugged. "But when Shannon had you two—I loved you guys." He grinned, and I found myself grinning back: our father _loved_ us. "So much—Shannon let me in your lives until you were about two-years-old." He looked at Derrick suddenly. "I taught you to fish in a blow up pool in your backyard—I caught the fish that morning with a police officer in Forks, a friend of mine, and saved them and filled one of those kiddy pools with fish and gave you a rod." He told him with a grin. Derrick stared at him, seemingly confused.

"I don't…" Derrick spoke for only the second time since Mr. Uley had gotten there. "Understand." His words were strangled, and I shot Derrick a worried look. "I—Had you fought for custody, had it actually been pursued, you would have gotten it." Derrick pointed out in the same, pained voice. "Because Walter was seventeen-years-old. He was _our_ age. And Mom was insane." He ducked his head, looking down at his hands before he looked back up at Mr. Uley. "I don't understand how you could have left two children_--your children_--in the care of an insane woman and another kid_."_

"I didn't take the issue to the courts." Mr. Uley murmured. "And I now regret it—You can't understand how much I regret it." He told us sincerely, his voice betraying his sincerity. "But Walter assured me he'd stay in area, and that Shannon wasn't going to give up her kids without a fight. And by then I hadn't been in your life for almost two years—it would have been like I was a stranger." Mr. Uley shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"You had to have known what happened, though." Derrick persisted. "There was a newspaper article, the entire town gossiped about it—Mom has Bipolar disorder. She locked us in a car trunk for two days before someone found us." Mr. Uley went white under his naturally caramel-colored skin, and I sighed: Derrick's lack of tact was sometimes laughable.

"I—I must have missed it." Mr. Uley said in a horrified tone. "Shannon did _what_?"

"It doesn't matter." I murmured defensively, glancing at Derrick with a clear _stop-talking_ look. "It was thirteen years ago." I sighed, and Mr. Uley looked unsatisfied but didn't push us, much to my relief. I really hated telling people that story—because it _did_ matter. But it mattered in a different way than most people thought—most people jumped straight to the pitying-the-abused-children scenario—which neither Derrick nor I were vying for. I just hated telling it because it was so _revealing_, about everything we did. It explained why Derrick and I knew Mom was crazy, not just mean, how Derrick and I were pretty much the closest siblings we knew. It was the very first example of us against the world.

"I have a question—something you told me on Christmas has been troubling me, Rose." My father said after a beat, switching topics, and my expression lightened as I nodded, allowing him to continue. "You said your mother had ditched you, both, for two months." He murmured, looking nauseated, and I wondered if maybe Mr. Uley just wasn't one of those adults who could hear stuff like this. Emily, as much as I loved her, was a little bit like this: she couldn't stand to hear us hurting so badly that it actually made me feel guilty to complain. "Is that… true?" I really didn't want to answer that, but I was me and I knew Derrick wasn't going to be saying anything of his own volition anytime soon.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "What happened was Mom was manic at the time Derrick phased for the first time, and I didn't know what was happening to him," I reached up to scrub at my forehead a little, "And I went to talk to Embry about it, but he didn't explain it to me because it involved a lot of background information he couldn't share. But I was in a crap mood from that so I went home and got mad at Mom and she flipped out because she was manic and that's what she does." I finished, then took a deep breath.

"What do you mean by flipped out?" Mr. Uley pressed worriedly, leaning forward once more.

"We have a social services file, if you'd just rather read that." Derrick snapped. I elbowed him, ignoring the pain that ricocheted into my own arm as I shot him a glare.

"She attacked me." I acknowledged quietly, meeting Mr. Uley's gaze levelly: I didn't hide from people, ever. "She broke some ribs, shook me up a bit." Mr. Uley looked absolutely horrified: he covered his face with his hands for a moment, taking a deep breath. Derrick shifted a little, and I shot him a surprised look.

"She's okay." Derrick said reassuringly, the first actively social thing I'd heard him do in days, and I smiled a little uncertainly at him. "She got the hell out of the house afterwards, went to Embry's." He shrugged, not moving his eyes from our father's form. "Rose can take care of herself." He told our father quietly. "We both can."

"I hate that you've had to, though." Mr. Uley said quietly, lifting his face to look at us with a dark gaze. "You're seventeen! And my--I should have checked in, or something." He sighed. "I just...wanted to respect Sharon's space, you know? Especially because it wasn't exactly easy for me to see her--I had to make sure Terri would have been there... It would have just hurt a lot of people." He sighed. "But instead it hurt you." He shook his head. "I'm sorry." He paused. "God, though, do I hate these genes." Mr. Uley muttered angrily. "You all grow up so fast, fighting those bloodsuckers or whatever--It's just, hard to consider with three kids in the mix." He sounded so worried that I exchanged a glance with Derrick: What exactly were we supposed to _do_ with this?

"I um--" I blushed at how I was about to change the subject, but I felt I had to--I didn't want this to turn into some giant mess of how much everyone loved each other so much and was so sorry. "I have some photos and stuff--I figured you might want them?" My voice rose to a new decibel.

"Of course!" Mr. Uley said, looking as relieved as I felt about the new subject. "I'd love to!" I rose to my feet, crossing to the kitchen counter to get the box of photographs I'd pulled out, and brought it over to the coffee table with a grin. "Oh my god," He said happily when he picked up the photograph of Jared and me, gap-toothed and seven-years-old, on the roller coaster. "Can I--" He fell silent as he saw a picture of pre-school aged Derrick and me sitting at a table with Embry and Rowan, and I felt my heart lurch as I saw Rowan. Rowan, who'd been poor Derrick's best friend from Day One, who'd been _in love _with me for the last two years while I walked around in an incredible state of oblivion. "Derrick, looks so much like _Sam_ at this age." Mr. Uley murmured, lifting the photograph, and I glanced at Derrick with a shaky smile. He smiled a little back, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. I looked back down at the photographs.

"This is us when we were ten, I think--Mr. Gentry drove them down to Legoland for Jared's birthday." I grinned, lifting the photograph of Jared, Derrick, Embry, Paul, and Quil--the pack before they were the pack.

"Where were you?" Mr. Uley asked.

"I stayed with Mom, she was having a bad weekend." I said quietly, and Mr. Uley frowned a little, glancing up at me. "She gets depressed sometimes." I murmured. "Once or twice a year it gets really bad, and this happened to be one of those weekends." Derrick blushed a little, but slid from his seat on the couch and knelt on the ground beside me, in front of the coffee table.

"Walter didn't do anything?" Mr. Uley asked, a little confused.

"Walter's a bastard." Derrick interupted darkly. I pressed my lips together, looking back down at the photographs.

"What did he do?" Mr. Uley asked incredulously, looking at his younger son.

"He ditched us when Social Services figured out that Mom wasn't there anymore." Derrick said angrily. "He showed up at--what was that, five in the morning?--the morning after Rose was in a car accident and he's not--a good person." Derrick shook his head. "Most people are at least a little okay, you know? They do a decent thing every once and a while." Derrick shook his head. "Not Walter. He's just a jackass. Through and through, end of story." There was a pause.

"Geez, Derrick, tell us how you really feel," I muttered.

"You'd been out of surgery for an hour, conscious for like ten minutes, and he stormed in and got in an argument with you--does that seem okay to you?" Derrick demanded angrily, his voice a hiss.

"You're not mad at me." I reminded him quietly, glancing warningly up at him, and he met my gaze for barely a second before he looked away, back down at the photographs.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"The short fuse thing--that's from me." Mr. Uley said with a small, sad smile. "Your mother used to be patient as hell--I assume the disorder's shortened her fuse--but the getting angry fast thing is from me."

"You should see Rose when she's pissed." Derrick said in a friendly tone. "Beats me hands down--she gave the Cullens a scare a month ago, I guess--Edward called social services after Dr. Dracula--" The Pack's not-so-fond name for Carlisle, "patched Rose up. Rose freaked out on them." I chuckled a little.

"I think it was my car more than me." I admitted with a grin, looking up at our father. "I've got a hummer--one of the original, giant ones--I know I'm killing the environment but it's my baby!" I protested in a second, then continued. "Anyway, I love how freaking big it is." My grin faded a little. "It got totaled, though. In the crash."

"When were you in a crash?" Mr. Uley demanded worriedly.

"Three weeks ago." I said easily, gesturing to the smaller brace that was now on my knee under my skirt, and lifting my splinted arm. "I got a little banged up but it was no big deal."

"Liar." Derrick retorted.

"Shut up." I muttered, shoving his shoulder a little. "And can I mention how much I hate having a werewolf twin? I can no longer hurt you." I muttered irritatedly.

"You're sketchy, I hope you know that." Derrick told me.

"If I'm sketchy than you're sketchy." I retorted.

"No denials there." Derrick snorted, then grinned. "I turn into a freaking wolf!" He glanced at our father with a sly grin. "Thanks for that," He said dryly. Our dad grinned back at us, chuckling a little.

"Sorry, kid." He said. "Consequences of being a Uley man."

"If Derrick's a man then I'm a senior citizen." Sam complained as he walked in the living room, and I grinned up at him. "Oh, God, photographs." He groaned, coming to the couch to clap Derrick on the back and stepped carefully over Der's legs to ruffle my hair. "Hey Dad," He said carefully, looking at his father. "Having fun with thing one and thing two?"

"We used to have t-shirts that said that." I informed Sam, who laughed. "Don't even joke about that. It wasn't funny."

"I still have mine." Derrick told me, grinning.

"Okay, that must be ten sizes too small for you," I pointed out. Derrick nodded. "D'you remember what happened to mine?"

"Jared and Embry made a flag out of it." Sam said, and I laughed, twisting to look up at him.

"I remember that!" I said. "God, Cabot was so mad when they flew it. I though he was gonna kill them." I shook my head. "After I did, of course."

"You guys were freshmen, so I must have been--what, a junior?--I don't think I've ever laughed so hard watching you leap on Embry from the slide on the playground." Sam said with a grin, and I blushed.

"It was _embarrassing!_" I insisted.

"No, it was the best prank ever." Sam retorted

"It was the first day of high school!" I protested.

"Thus making it more epic." Derrick noted. I glanced at him. "Who do you think supplied the t-shirt?" He demanded. I glared at him for a half second before I dissolved into laughter. /Dad watched us, grinning hugely.

So us meeting hadn't been that bad. Maybe we had a parent. And, like normal people, a family.


	25. In Which I Finally Get a Call

Chapter 25

"Oy, Sam—pass!" I called out to my half-brother as I backed up fast, my arms over my head. It was late January and the first non-snow/-rain ridden day since November, so we were playing touch-football, even though it was a pain in the butt in terms of us sprinting through snow. "Sam!"

It'd been a month since Christmas, and life had… settled. Prom was coming together nicely, without much effort on Kim's or my part—we really didn't even have to show up to the meetings, as long as the Rez boys went. Leah and Derrick were still together, as far as I could tell, and still being as cryptic as ever. They were the two most private people I knew, in terms of how much they shared about their private lives, but they seemed good together.

Sam's and Emily's wedding was looming closer with every passing day—and Emily was getting progressively more frantic. It was only a little more than five months away, which was apparently like the blink of an eye—I knew _nothing_ about planning things in advance. I'd never even planned a birthday party. But Emily had employed me as her new potential sister-in-law and her maid-of-honor for choosing brides' maids dresses.

Sam chucked the ball, jerking me out of any thoughts of his wedding, and I backed up to grab it out of the air, giggling when Embry, who was on the opposing team, stopped his team from tackling me by tackling Paul, who was about to attack me.

"Embry, I swear to _God_—" Paul began, pissed off as he threw Embry off him and sat up.

"Your imprint doesn't seem to have breakable _parts,_ Paul," Embry muttered as he picked himself up and brushed himself off. "Rachel's scary. Rose is breakable."

"Nuh-uh." I challenged Embry, scowling a little. "I didn't break a bone until age seventeen and it wasn't like the crash was _my_ fault." I told him, and my boyfriend winced while Paul just glared at him angrily.

"Rachel's not scary—she's powerful." Paul retaliated, ignoring my comment. I frowned. I didn't follow what was going on, anymore.

"Wait—who's Rachel?" I demanded, looking from Embry to Paul.

"Jake's sister." Sam clarified. "Who Paul imprinted on." Sam made a face, earning himself a glare from Paul. "Only she's a pain in the ass." Sam shook his head while Paul shifted to mutinous. "You know how you and Kim and Emily are all sweet and polite?" Sam asked me, and I frowned a little.

"I resent being assigned the attributes of a 50s housewife." I told him, and Sam sighed dramatically, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and hugging me with one arm.

"I take that back—you know how Kim and Emily are all sweet and polite?" He repeated with a falsely-pleasant smile, and I grinned.

"Yes," I said, still grinning. "Is Rachel like that?" I asked more interestedly, pulling away from Sam as I played with the football in my hands.

"No." Jake offered as he came out of the house, and Paul shot him an angry look. "You know that song Man Eater?" He demanded, and I laughed. "That was about Rachel. And she's sunk her claws into Paul, recently." Jake rolled his eyes. "He won't last long." I snickered.

"I _imprinted_ on her." Paul said angrily, taking a couple steps forward. "I'm going to be here forever." I realized that Paul sounded actually heart-broken, and I pressed my lips together in sympathy.

"Well, yes, Paulie," Jake said slowly, as if talking to someone exceedingly stupid. "I'm aware that _you're_ going to be there forever. I'm simply trying to warn you that Rachel is, and this is said with all of the brotherly love in the world, going to break your heart and dump you on the side of the road and forget about you ten seconds later." Jakes said all of this very fast, and we all had to take a minute to replay it.

"Oh, be nice, Jake," I interrupted, smiling at Paul. "I'm sure she loves you Paul."

"She does!" Paul agreed vehemently, turning to me and nodding excitedly, a smile breaking on his lips. "And I love her! She's _beautiful_ and she never lessens herself for anyone, especially not her fucktard of a little brother," He looked pointedly at Jake, "and she's brave as hell and can kiss like—"

"Rachel's still my sister." Jake told Paul, his eyes narrowing. I chucked him the football, and he caught it, glaring at Paul. "Don't continue down that very dangerous path, my friend."

"Welcome to the club, Jake." Sam said, and Jake glanced up at him, throwing the football his way. "I've got Rose and Embry."

"Hello, I'm standing _right here_." I retorted. "And Embry and I tone it down when we're around you." Sam made a gagging noise, looking at me.

"We do!" Embry insisted as he came up behind me, and I smiled a little, turning to him and placing my hands on his chest, sliding them up around his neck. I stood on tiptoe to press my lips to his, and Embry lifted me easily, holding me up as my legs wrapped around his waist. I ran my hand through his hair, kissing him hungrily—and then my half-brother was pulling me back.

"_Stop it_!" He begged me and he spun me around and planted me firmly on the ground. "I get it, I get it, you have teenage hormones and angst whatever such shit but I don't give a damn if you're engaged—none of—" he gestured wildly at Embry and me, "_that_!" I snickered.

I turned to Paul with a small smile, wiping off my mouth with a quick swipe of the hand. "And that's why it's a crap idea to imprint on Jake's sister, right there." I snorted as Sam wailed a little behind me.

"That was to _teach_ something?" Sam wailed softly. Paul laughed, pulling me back rapidly as my half-brother threw his hands into the air above his head. "I'm not cut out for this! I can't be a brother! You can't freaking _mount_ Embry," I blushed but laughed, "every time someone bothers you, especially when I'm _right freaking here_!"

"Love, they're engaged." Emily pointed out as she appeared at the top of the back steps. "What they're doing is gonna be acceptable by pretty much every religion, soon enough." Emily descended the steps, dragging Leah out behind her, and the entire yard went sort of silent: for all that Leah indeed was part of the pack, she hated Sam, hated Emily, and hated pretty much everyone but her brother and my brother. She tolerated my existence because Derrick wouldn't have accepted anything else. "And Rose, Leah wants to talk to you."

"Thanks for announcing that, Emily." Leah said sarcastically. "I couldn't, you know, address Rose myself." Emily blushed a little, releasing Leah's hand in the blink of an eye, and I smiled at Leah, jogging forward to stand in front of her.

"What's up?" I asked her cheerfully, and she grabbed my arm, dragging me pretty much forcibly behind her, and I raised my eyebrows, glancing back at Embry, who looked vaguely worried. "Um, Leah?" I asked curiously. "Can't we just talk here…?"

"Boys can't hear." She ground out. I nodded as if this made all the sense in the world.

"Please don't eat her!" Embry called after Leah, who just turned to bare her teeth at him fiercely. My eyebrows flew higher on my forehead. What the hell was going on? "No—Leah, I'm being serious." Embry continued. "Hurt her and I'll actually cut your hair off while you sleep."

"Then I'll kill her." Leah threatened, sounding vaguely serious, and I frowned at that logic.

"That would be punishing me for something Embry did." I pointed out, and Leah just shot me a look that made me shut up faster than anything.

Leah dragged me out to Derrick's car, leaving me on the passenger side while she circled to the driver's side. The doors were unlocked, and I opened my door cautiously, preparing myself for whatever the angriest person on the planet had to throw at me.

Leah slammed the door shut with force that made me wince—Derrick's car was the only one not out-of-commission between the two of us. She locked the doors, and then paused, looking down at the steering wheel. I watched her for a minute, biting my lip, before I decided that taking a guess wouldn't hurt.

"This about my brother?" I guessed. Leah nodded once, her gaze dark even as she avoided my gaze studiously.

"I know we didn't imprint on each other," She said slowly. "But I need to know what kind of guys he is in terms of how serious he is about me." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and I felt a surge of sympathy for Leah. "I don't expect him to marry me or something. I just want to make sure I'm not gonna come over _here_," Her voice was filled with disgust as her gaze flicked up to Sam and Emily's house in front of us, "Someday, and find him making out with some girl from your grade." She pulled a face. "I think we're… exclusive. But I'm not—I don't—do this a lot, okay?"

I smiled a little at her, keeping my gaze gentle. I only knew the basic sketches of what had made Leah so angry at the world, but it sounded bad enough without the details. Poor girl was so insecure she couldn't even go to her boyfriend about it. "Derrick's not interested in anyone at school." I told her softly. "He really likes you, Lee." I said, shortening her name and praying it would make her snap and kill me.

Leah seemed to relax a great deal, though, glancing up at me with a gaze that shocked me with it's vulnerability. Did scary, scary Leah have actual fears? "I just don't—I'm almost a hundred percent sure I'm never gonna imprint. Just—because." She made a face. "I'm me. But I really like Derrick."

"Good." I said quietly. I paused. "And if you break his heart or something I'm going to have to throw you down a well." She raised her eyebrows at my strange threat. "We've had a hellish year. I'm not sure he'd completely recover." I elaborated softly. She ducked her head in a nod.

"I'm sorry about your Mom being sick." She told me quietly. "I'm sorry Mr. Uley didn't push the subject when there was something to be done about it still." Leah was, surprisingly, the first person to apologize for these things—Embry'd obviously hugged me and told me it would be okay and all those comforting things, and everyone had been really nice. But it was still nice to hear.

"Not your fault." I said quietly, my gaze sliding to the dashboard. "Mr. Uley's a nice enough man, even if I think he's not telling the truth about not know Mom was sick." I glanced up at the house, through the windshield. "You never met her but—trust me. It was unavoidable." I shook my head once. "Derrick almost pushed him on the topic but I think he didn't because I was there and he's been trying to be nicer to me."

"He has." Leah acknowledged. "He feels guilty that you were the grownup when you guys were kids." She glanced up at me. "He mentioned the twenty-seven minutes mattering." She murmured to me, and I glanced up at her, surprised. Derrick _talked_ to Leah. About _real_ things. My socially-retarded brother had engaged his girlfriend in a serious conversation about his family and his sister his anger-managing girlfriend had listened.

Aww. That was adorable.

"They do." I told her. "And I'm not even sure when that started. But at some point it was decided I stayed home with Mom and Derrick went to birthday parties. I missed school and Derrick went to hockey practice." I shrugged. "It just happened that way," I admitted, looking up at Leah. "I don't resent him or anything—he knows that, right?" I ran a hand through my hair. "Because I know he's there if I need him. I just don't like needing him." Leah smiled faintly.

"I get that." She told me. "And he doesn't think you resent him." She snorted in skeptical laughter. "He kind of resents himself though—you know Derrick, though." She acknowledged as I nodded in understanding: this sounded like my twin brother. "He didn't even realize you were picking up the slack until Embry turned wolf last year and you stopped." She swallowed, suddenly, looking nervous. "Anyway—thanks—I just wanted to make sure." She said softly. I shrugged.

"Anytime." I said with a tight smile. I reached for my door handle, then paused, turning back to her. "I'm sorry that Derrick's emotionally stunted." I told her softly. "But he really does care about you in his own little, Derrick-y way." She smiled genuinely at me, and for the first time, I saw echoes of Emily's sweetness in Leah's face. What would life have been like had Leah been about to be my sister-in-law, and not Em?

I turned away, jumping down from Derrick's car and shutting the door gingerly behind me. As soon as I was five feet from the car, Leah backed out of the driveway, and I just walked back towards my friends, unsurprised to see them all stare at me as I returned in one piece. "What'd Leah want?" Sam asked carefully, watching me as I crossed the yard.

"To talk to me." I said cryptically. Sam rolled his eyes, and Embry's worried gaze focused on my face as I approached him.

"About?" Sam prompted.

"None of your business, big bro." I told him with a good-natured grin, and Sam looked pained. "But it's all good." I told him. Embry wound and arm around my waist, tugging me against him, and I bounced to my feet to press a quick kiss to his lips before I pulled away, my hands closing on the football in his hands as I pulled back with it.

"Embry, goddammit!" Paul shouted as he realized I'd used my influence over my boyfriend to get the ball back. Sam flashed a grin at me, as did Jared, because they were both on my team, and I chucked the ball high over Paul's head to Jared. I saw, in my peripherals, that Paul leapt at Embry, and they went down into the snow, wrestling. Well, wolf-boys will be wolf-boys.

"Shit, girl! Nice throw!" Jake said appreciatively, and I grinned at him. "Who taught you to throw like that?" He asked me curiously, before he turned to chuck the football to Sam, who caught it with practiced ease. I was proud of the way Jake and Sam were kind of pulling it together—when I'd first come to the pack, they'd been a mess and a half, with nothing settled. Now they were kind of friendly with each other, which was all anyone could ever hope for.

"Derrick was a jock before he got all furry with you freaks," I said with a gentle grin for the boys, none of whom took offense. "I can't have gotten away from our childhood without being able to at least hold my own in most sports." I pointed out. Jake nodded, and looked like he was about to respond when my cell phone rang loudly in my back pocket, and I hissed in annoyance, pulling off my mitten with one hand before I pulled my iPhone out of my back pocket. I slid the block across the bottom of the screen without checking the number, lifting the phone to my face. "Hello?" I asked.

"Rosie?"

My heart just about stopped.

"_Mom_?" I demanded, the shock rocking my world. Everyone around me stopped, and Embry bounced to his feet, staring at me in a panic.

"Rosie, I'm _sorry_," Mom sobbed—she was crying. I did the math, quickly, in my head—September, October, November, December, January. She was in her depressive phase, maybe the peak of it, right now. "I'm sorry I hurt you, baby girl, I never meant to I was just—I couldn't think straight and then—"

"Shh, Mama, it's okay," I breathed, tucking my glove in my pocket and turning away from the boys. "It's alright, I'll come and get you. Where are you?" Mom hiccupped a sob away.

"I'm _sorry_, baby," Mom sobbed.

"Mama, it's not a problem, I'm not mad, I could never be mad at you." The words spilled out of my mouth before I could consider their honesty. Was I really not angry at my mother? "I just need to know where you are."

"Portland," Mom hiccupped unhappily.

"Portland, Oregon?" I clarified desperately, spinning back around to look at Sam and hold out my hand desperately. He stared blankly at me. _Keys_, I mouthed emphatically to my half-brother, and my big brother nodded, patting his pockets. "Where in Portland?"

"Helping Hands Home for Battered Women," Mom said unhappily, and my breath stopped in my lungs.

"Battered?" I asked softly. "Are you alright?"

"Georgie drove me down here—we lived together for a bit but then he found out—" She sobbed. "I had children and he left me—I shouldn't have—I'm not cut out for motherhood." I closed my eyes painfully. She wasn't cut out for motherhood. She wasn't even cut out to hang around the house while I did everything that needed doing. "I shouldn't have had twins, no children, but Henry wasn't going to leave Terri—"

"Mom, stop." I told her in a steely voice, my ability to not snap on my mother breaking. "I'm coming to pick you up. Do not leave the shelter, alright?"

"I'm so sorry, baby girl." Mom sobbed pathetically. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Mama, it's okay—" I offered softly, and Sam pulled out his keys from his pocket triumphantly. He slammed them into my hand and I winced, but took off towards his car. "I'm coming to get you, alright? Just stay put." I tried, but Mom wasn't willing to get off the phone just yet.

"Forgive me, baby. Please, forgive me." She said softly, and I swallowed.

"It's fine." I said quietly. "Just stay where you are, okay? I have to come get you." I ended the call, my stamina for talking to my mother like a small child fading, and I realized that Sam and Embry had trailed me across the yard.

"Rose, this is a bad idea." Sam said flatly, no introduction. "She's already proven she's violent and she'll do anything that's necessary to get what she needs—if she hurts you—"

"She. Is. My. Mother." I hissed at Sam, whirling on him and grinding the words out. "I love her. And she's sick and Sam, d'you know what'll happen if I leave her in Portland?" I demanded, genuinely angry, and Sam looked worried. "She'll commit _suicide_." Sam's eyes widened as he seemed to recognize that I was flipping out. "And that will be _my_ fucking fault so sorry if I don't care that you don't understand what it's like having _my_ mother. I get we're half-siblings, I'm grateful you kept us out of foster care and I still want to be your sister but don't pretend for a second that you understand this situation enough to talk about it." There was a moment when my harsh breathing was the only sound in the yard, before Embry took a brave step forward.

"I'm coming with you." He murmured, and I turned my angriest glare on him. Embry didn't even look mildly phased, and that was when I knew he was serious. "Rose, you don't understand. I _cannot_ let you go alone to your abusive mother, d'you understand?"

"She's not abusive, Embry." I told him heatedly. "She is _sick_. Her brain—it's different than yours or mine or Derrick's or Sam's or whoever's. You know Van Gogh, right? He was bipolar, and he cut off his ear and committed suicide—bipolar disorder people are known for their crazy. And it _sucks_ but I can't leave my mother alone in a shelter in Portland for it."

"I'm going with you." Embry insisted, and I just ran my hands through my hair. Why was Embry—Embry, of all people—pushing me on this when he usually just took my word as his holy text? "There are thousands of years of creepy wolf-boy genetics working against you." Embry took a deep breath, meeting my gaze solemnly. "You're either letting me in the car or there's going to be a giant wolf shadowing you down to Portland." I stared at Embry for an unfathomable moment before I just cursed under my breath.

"Have fun running." I muttered. I saw the hurt flash across his face, but I couldn't do this—I couldn't take care of everyone. I wasn't super girl, I couldn't hold up the world and take care of everyone. I could only do a couple of things at a time and my mother had to come first because she didn't stand a chance in hell by herself.

So I left the boy I loved and my big brother in the front yard of my new house to save my mother from herself.

And as I drove away, I didn't look back once.

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A/N: I don't usually do these but… if I get five reviews, I hit a hundred reviews, and you don't understand how happy that will make me.

Also, I'm posting this from the lovely country of Egypt! It's beautiful here and everyone's extremely nice. Except for a couple creepy vendors who call me shakira or laila, and a couple of nine-ish-year-old girls who came up to my friend and were like "What's your name?" and my friend said Asprey because that's her name and then they laughed and went back to their friends and were like "her name's _Asprey_." And we glared at them. Brats.

Xoxo

..


	26. In Which I'm a Godawful Person

A/N: you guys are the best! 101 reviews! :D i'm also at 12,200+ hits, no big deal. thank you so much guys for getting this to 101 reviews...

xoxo

. clumsy . carrie .

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Chapter 26

I knew he was out there.

Embry, I meant. I'd seen flashes of his dark coat, heard the occasional howl—and I knew his howl now, as instinctively as I'd know that the wolf was Embry, back in September. He'd been following me since I'd left La Push three hours ago, and so far I hadn't let up on the gas pedal, which meant I was only twenty minutes or so away from Portland. But it'd just begun to pour, and I did love Embry. So against all the reasons not to let him into the car—Sam's car was a pickup truck with only enough room for two, maybe one and a half considering Embry's massive size; when I picked up Mom, she would _not_ like Embry. But I loved Embry. And I couldn't leave him out in the rain.

I pulled off the main highway, instead picking a less-populated looking route and waiting until I got onto an entirely empty road before I pulled onto the shoulder of the road. Ten seconds later, my wolf boy trotted out of the forest, in a pair of jeans and an over-sized Northwestern sweatshirt: he was sure I would get in.

I waited for him to get in the car before I turned to look at him seriously. "Em—"

"Rose, babe, I love you. You know that. I'll be here forever, for better or for worse." He paused, turning to look at me and reaching out to brush my cheek with his fingertips. "Please drive safer." He breathed. "You've already been in one car accident on my watch. It's not happening again." Embry's hand slid to the back of my head, leaning my head forward a little, and brushed his lips against his forehead.

"Em, right now isn't the best time for even the most heartfelt of driver's ed," I told him, pulling away with a gentle smile, and Embry sighed in exasperation as I turned back to face the road. Normally, Embry and I would have bantered about that for a while—but I couldn't quite bring myself to act like everything was normal, when it so _wasn't_. I pulled back into the actual road, chewing on my lip nervously before I rolled to a stop at a red light, glancing at Embry. "I have a confession to make." I told him softly. Embry's eyebrows rose, but he just looked at me seriously. "It's not like—" I hastened to reassure him, seeing a shadow of fear in his eyes, "I didn't cheat on you or anything like that, it doesn't really have a lot to do with you, but you're—Embry. I tell you stuff." I paused, letting the panic in his eyes fade for a second. "Even if—God I feel like such a crappy person for thinking this," I muttered, even as the light turned green: I looked carefully (I'd learned not to trust the light) before I went through the intersection, sighing a little as I reached the other side. "I didn't want her to come back, Em. I'm her kid and I love her—but God. I don't want her to come back."

"You are _not_ a bad person." Embry said after a second. I scoffed.

"A teensy bit biased, are we?" I asked him with a knowing look.

"Rose Mehta, you know me well enough to know I tell when you I think you're being stupid, right?" Embry asked, and I nodded in confirmation. "Well, Love, you're being stupid." I shot him a bewildered look, and he pointed frantically at the road. "Look at the road!" He ordered frantically, and I rolled my eyes, but obeyed. "Okay, Rose—listen to me but _do not look at me. _Look at the road." Embry's instructions were emphatic.

"I don't like it when my boyfriend talks to me like I'm a four-year-old." I reminded him. Embry grimaced.

"Sorry," He muttered. I nodded once, waiting for what he wanted to say. "Okay, Rosie—you're really mature. You weren't a killjoy or anything, you just—knew when we were being stupid unnecessarily." The _we_ there meant the boys, I knew, even if he hadn't said it. "You _are_ a good person. In so many ways—you always took care of us, especially when we were being stupid, and you put up with your mother, without telling anyone. You protected her as long as you could and you're trying to protect her now." He sighed softly. "But Ro, you're not super girl. You can't save your mother and keep yourself above water anymore—maybe back when you were ten, it was more do-able because you weren't feeling so betrayed by her, but now, you can't _force_ yourself to take care of her."

I kept my eyes on the road. "She's sick." I murmured, my only argument on behalf of my mother. "I almost wish she was doing this on purpose, you know? If she was just—an awful mother. If she was just mean or careless or inattentive because she decided Derrick and I weren't good enough or something." I kept one hand on the steering wheel, using the other to push my hair out of my face. "I could leave her, live with Sam and ignore her calls. But she doesn't mean it. Yeah, I mean, it's not like bipolar disorder wires someone to be mean to their _kids_, but she has emotionally abusive tendencies towards the people around her." My words were straight from Mom's shrink's mouth, but everything I was saying was true despite the clinical-sounding language. "And I happen to be the person around her 99% of the time."

"She's not the way to Derrick that she is to you." Embry pointed out softly, and I glanced at him sharply, my eyes wide. "I mean—I've been in Derrick's head, Rosie. I know a lot—not everything, but a lot—and I know that he hasn't endured half the abuse you have—"

"Not abuse." I murmured.

"How do you define abuse?" Embry asked, his voice angry. "Because anytime a parent intentionally harms their child—any time, Rose—I think that's when it's called abuse. I'm pretty damn sure that's everyone else's definition too." I couldn't even respond to that—I was so confused. This sudden desire to have my mother stay gone had put a new stain on everything I knew—was Mom abusive? I didn't think so. Or at least I hadn't thought so.

"Can we please talk about this later?" I asked in a small voice, immediately hating myself for it—I hated running from things. And that was what I was doing.

I hated what my mother's reappearance was turning me into in only the few hours since I'd heard from her.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in front of the Helping Hands Home for Battered Women and got out of the car, leaving the keys there: I knew Em would stay with the car. He knew I had to go in alone. I couldn't run from Mom—I had to talk to her on my own. Or, in so far as she could talk to me, anyway.

I walked uncomfortably up to a closed black door, knocking before I exhaled softly, parting my hair and pulling it over both shoulders. I had the absurd want to impress my mentally-ill homeless mother. Maybe I was the one who needed to be medicated.

A woman in a pair of loose jeans and a flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves opened the door with a big smile. "Hello! Are you a volunteer?" She asked me happily.

"I'm actually here to pick my mom up—I think she's staying here." I said, a little embarrassed. "She told me she was." I paused, waiting for the woman to say something, but she didn't. "Her name's Shannon Mehta?"

"A lot of our residents aren't necessarily comfortable sharing their names." The woman said carefully, her eyes flicking over my shoulder distrustfully. I frowned, turning to follow her gaze to Sam's truck, in which Embry was sitting, tapping his fingers against the dashboard. "And I can't let you in without knowing that _he_ is not one of the reasons that my residents are here." The woman had closed the door a little when I turned back to her, making sure her thin frame was visible but nothing behind her was.

"No—he's my boyfriend." I clarified, biting my lip. "My mother called me—please, she's Indian, like I am, except her eyes are a lighter brown than mine?" I was frantic: I couldn't get this close to my mother and then lose her because of a misunderstanding. "She has bipolar disorder, she's in her depressive phase—I've been looking for her since September." I was pretty much rambling completely now but I couldn't help it. "Embry would never hurt a fly. Seriously."

"What's your name?" She asked me suspiciously.

"Rose." I said softly, and she sighed, the nodded.

"Shannon's here." She confirmed. "You stay here, alright? I'll go get her." She left the door open a crack and walked back inside, and I shifted nervously from foot to foot, glancing back at Embry, who was now looking at me. I sighed, turning back to the door. I had to see Mom.

"Rose?" The woman said softly as she came back to the door. "She's here." She opened the door and my mother, in someone's cut up sweatpants, came up beside the woman. She had a fading black eye, and I swallowed my overwhelming desire to ask her how the hell she got it and beat up whoever did it to her. Her hair was filthy and in a messy bun, and she had on a loose t-shirt that had I-heart-CA on it. She must have gotten herself to California at some point. Then back up to Portland.

"Mom, c'mon." I said softly, with a small smile. "Embry and me are going to take you home." Mom looked up at me, her eyes looking haunted.

"Why Embry?" She asked me softly.

"We're dating, Mom." I said gently.

"I don't like Embry." She said softly. I sighed. She didn't not like Embry. She was just this way when she was depressive—she hated me, Derrick, Embry, whomever. "I don't want to go home."

"Mom, c'mon." I said quietly, my voice exhausted. "I have school tomorrow. So does Em. And Sam's expecting me home, albeit at three in the morning." Mom paused, and I ignored the curious look that the woman who'd answered the door was giving me.

"Don't be smart with me, Rose." She muttered. "And who the hell is Sam?" Mom was getting angrier already. I raised my eyebrows: I'd forgotten Mom didn't know that I knew that my father was Mr. Uley.

"Sam Uley." I said quietly, and Mom's nostrils flared as she stared at me for a long moment. The woman was outright staring at us now, but I couldn't help that, so I just held Mom's gaze evenly.

"I don't want Embry in the car with us." She said after a second, and I heard a car door slam behind me: Embry. He'd heard—he could hear everything within at least one city block of us, I estimated. "I hate Embry."

"Mom that's not an option." I said flatly. Mom's face turned shocked in a heartbeat, and Embry's arm slid around my waist, pulling me back against him.

"I'll take a bus or a cab or something." Embry said to me softly, but I shook my head, looking intently at my mother. No, this was the principal of the thing. Embry was important to me, Mom was important to me—Embry was willing to sit in a car for four hours with Mom. Was Mom willing to sit in a car for four hours with Embry? For me?

"Mom, I'm _engaged_ to Embry." I said softly, holding out a hand to show her my ring. "You should get used to him." I knew I was doing this wrong—I could only imagine what would happen when my mother's psychologist heard about this. He would cry at the setbacks this would cause. But I couldn't do this—I couldn't let Mom hate Embry. I _loved_ Embry. The line where I ended and Embry began—that had blurred irreversibly since my mother had left Derrick and I. Now she was back and nothing was the same—and I couldn't let go of Embry to make her feel better.

Mom pushed my hand down and stalked past me to the pick up—she'd seen Embry get out of it, so she knew it was my car. I blinked. Had Mom just… accepted Embry? Or had she just pushed down the anger and was going to take it out on me later?

I smiled and muttered a brief thanks to the woman before I followed Mom to the car, sliding into the middle seat and then letting Embry take Driver's. Embry shot my mother a worried look before he began the process of un-parallel parking the car. I couldn't help the hopeful smile on my lips, though, as Mom leaned her head against my shoulder. Maybe Mom could adjust to Embry. Maybe I could keep Mom around.

I must have fallen asleep, because some time later I woke up as we were pulling up in front of Sam's house, and there were flashing lights—police officers. Mom was wide-awake, staring at them, and I blinked at them as Embry stopped the car and jumped out, stomping up to Sam and shoving him in the chest—he knew what this was about.

I was still a little unclear, however.

"What…?" My voice trailed off as it dawned on me. Police. Mom. Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Assault. Oh God. Sam had called the police.

Of course he had.

"You called the cops?" Mom asked, sounding heart-broken as she looked at me, her eyes deadened. I turned to stare at her, my eyes wide and confused as a police officer came around to Mom's side of the car, and reached for the handle. "I can't _believe_ you called the cops, you _bitch_." My heart was pounding in my ears now as Sam and Embry both shut up, spinning to face the car and the door to the house opened, revealing a sleepy looking Derrick and Emily. "I _hate_ you!" She was already screaming as the police officer opened the passenger side door and tried to pull her out of the car. "I _can't _believe you're my daughter you _whore_! Engaged at seventeen—what are you _pregnant_? Goddammit you little—"

"Mom, please." My words were soft and shaky and all I could manage. "I'm not pregnant."

"Rose Mehta I _disown_ you—after _raising_ you by myself I leave you alone for five fucking months and you desert me to be with your baby daddy and absentee father and brother?" Mom was screaming, and she clawed out at me, literally—her nails scraped the side of my face as I turned my head away, opening a stinging cut from the edge of my eye to three inches down my cheek. "You dirty little—"

"Shannon Mehta, you are under arrest for 2 counts of Child Abuse, 2 counts of Child Neglect, 2 counts of Assault. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," The police officer, a forty-something-year-old man in the Forks PD uniform said seriously to my mother as he pulled her forcibly out of the car, twisting her arms behind her back. Mom was screaming unintelligible things now, and suddenly Embry was pulling me out of the car, into his arms, and I turned towards him, tears welling in my eyes as he anxiously inspected my new scratch.

"Rosie…" Embry breathed softly, pressing his lips to right above where the cut started. "I'm sorry." He meant for my mother's behavior, I thought. I didn't really know, I wasn't really clear on much of anything, these days.

"Rose?" That was Sam's worried voice, and I turned to him, my eyes wide with bewilderment and filling with tears all the sudden. My big brother's heart broke on his face, and he hugged me tightly, and I just let him, unable to really react. How was this happening? Sam released me to hold me by the soldiers, looking almost frantic. "Rose, I'm sorry, okay? Before you get mad, I had to call. I had to call if I wanted to keep custody of you because your mom would have resurfaced eventually and then the cops would have known that I knew and then I would have lost custody and I don't have an idea in hell what would have happened to you and Derrick."

"Leave her alone." Derrick said quietly, pushing forward to Sam and putting a hand on his chest, pushing him back. Sam looked shocked and panicky—the same way I felt—and I blinked, trying to identify something, anything to do while my screaming, mentally ill mother was stuffed in the back of a cop car. "You're not helping." I considered all of that before I rubbed my face tiredly.

"D, it's fine." I told him softly, and Derrick frowned a little but released Sam. Embry was inspecting the cut on my face now, and he used the sleeve of his sweatshirt to blot at some of the blood. I hissed in pain—that _stung_—and Embry jumped back. "Em, it's okay," I said soothingly.

"If you let me clean that out it _will_ be okay." Embry agreed.

"I just--" I fell silent as I exhaled. "I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted." I held up my hands in almost a warning—stay back, I may bite—before I walked past the boys. Embry trotted after me, following me up the front steps.

"Rose, I'm sorry." Sam said, still sounding panicky, and I rolled my eyes but turned to face him. I smiled as much as I could at him, feeling haunted.

"Sam. I'm not mad." I said to him quietly. "Please calm down."

"How the hell aren't you mad?" Derrick demanded, raising his eyebrows as he straightened up. "You're always mad. About everything." I raised one eyebrow. "Okay then, everything Mom related, you _always_ get pissed off."

"Mom hates Embry." I said shortly. Derrick exhaled slowly, nodding once in understanding. "She lost my vote at the shelter in Portland." I paused, shaking my head. "She wouldn't have gotten in the car with him but I don't think she had another choice." I bit my lip, turning to look at Embry. "You were right." _She is abusive_.

"I'm so sorry." Embry repeated, suddenly crushing me against him in a hug, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I wanted Mom to disappear again. I wanted her to stay gone. Forever and ever.

What the hell was _wrong_ with me?


	27. In Which Leah Does Me a Favor

Dedicated to Kathleen Hudome Magee (1927-2010) Robert Patrick Magee Jr. (1949-2009).

We love you guys.

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Chapter 27

"You want _what_?" I demanded, my hands on my hips as I stared at Emily across her backyard a week later. Emily was deep in the throes of her wedding and determined to plan it down the last possible second.

"Doves." Emily said romantically. "Twenty Five Doves." I looked past Emily to Jared, who was standing behind Emily. Jared just shook his head, raising his eyebrows. He had no idea why Emily needed 25 doves _either_. Good.

Jared and I had been recruited this fine Saturday morning to help lay out the actual physicality of Emily's wedding—see how many chairs fit where and in how many rows, how wide or narrow the lane down the middle of the chairs that the bride would walk down would have to be, etc. Jared got dragged in because Sam had asked him and Jared and Sam were pretty good friends—Jared had stuck with Sam until the bitter end when there'd been two packs for all of ten seconds—and I'd gotten dragged in because Emily had seen me lazing around and declared that I would help her and as my legal guardian that was within her rights.

"May I ask why?" I asked delicately—Emily got a little crazy about her wedding.

"Because I'll be wearing a white dress and we can get some beautiful swans and doves and it will all look _gorgeous_!" She gushed, and I winced. She frowned at me, her face falling, and I sighed heavily. "You'll be just this way when you're planning _your_ wedding, Rosie Posie." Emily pointed out, and Jared snorted in laughter. Emily glared at him, but I just grinned.

"Rose is _super_ level-headed, Emily." Jared pointed out to Emily. "Her wedding's going to be something brief. Simple, with like, ten guests." I nodded in confirmation, ignoring Emily's skeptical look. "And my man Embry has the attention span of a fruit fly." He added as an afterthought, and I frowned at him.

"Embry thinks about a lot of things at once, so sometimes he _sounds_ attention-lacking." I said defensively, frowning at Jared. "But Em's _really_ smart—seriously, I do the crossword sometimes and he's a really big—" Jared was smothering a smile, and Emily was grinning outright. "What?" I demanded, putting my hands on my hips.

"You're the girl version of whipped." Jared said, his smile turning into loud laughter, and I glared at him. He didn't care though, just laughing hugely now: Jared threw his head back, grabbing his stomach. Stupid boyfriends' best friends. I didn't want a big wedding, I didn't want to be one of those ditzy teenagers in love—I just wanted Embry and now I was going to marry him, one day in the far future when I'd already graduated college and other fun things like that. Why did anything else have to matter?

"Jared!" Emily scolded, but her heart wasn't it: she turned back to me, grinning sweetly, as Jared continued to laugh. "I think it's adorable, Rose. You love him!" She grinned at me hugely, and I frowned at her. "You guys are all sweet and gushy and—" She grinned, and I just turned away from my sister-in-law to-be, pulling my cell phone out of my back pocket, and bringing up my last couple texts with Embry. _Save me_. I typed easily, before pressing send and looking up at Emily with one eyebrow raised. Emily put a hand over her heart, and I just raised my eyebrows. "This is so cute!"

I frowned at Emily in displeasure, but some of the boys were already coming out of the forest, catching her attention. Sam, Quil and Embry. Embry grinned at me as he held up his cell phone. I blushed, but grinned at him. "What's going on here?" Sam demanded, sounding leader-y, but he was grinning, and Embry crossed to me, wrapping his arms around me and I covered the space between our faces in a half-second, kissing him hungrily.

"Rosie…" Sam whined in the background, and I just flipped Sam my middle finger, but did pull away from Embry, grinning before I ducked my head, blushing. Embry's face dropped beside mine, his lips beside my ear.

"Why'd you stop?" He asked me, but I heard the grin in his voice.

"Rose and Embry are super cute." Emily gushed to her fiancé, and Sam looked fondly at Emily, nodding once in biased, blind agreement. I just blushed, and Embry pecked me on the cheek, before I turned in his arms, so I had my back against his chest, his arms around my waist. "Sammy, don't you think so?"

"Sammy!" Jared cried out in a strangled voice, and I saw Sam turn on him with a dark glare. "This is _classic_—" Jared was choking on his laughter, and I watched Sam turn scarlet, suddenly thankful for my darker skin that hid most of my embarrassed blush. "I mean—God, Sam—that's an awful nickname—" I felt Embry's fingers trace the on-the-cusp of healing scratch on the side of my face, and I swatted his hand away with a small smile, twisting in his arms to look up at him. My hands slid over his, clasped over my waist.

"I'm fine." I murmured to him. "This is almost gone." I reminded him softly, lifting a hand to brush my fingers just below the cut. "Won't even really scar."

"I left you in the car with her," He breathed into my hair, brushing a kiss against the top of my head. "I'm an idiot." He ducked his head, and I turned in his embrace to put a hand on his cheek, looking up at him intently. "And to think you chose me over her." His words were soft and heart-broken: he honestly believed I had made a mistake picking him. Not because my mother was any kind of stellar influence in my life, but just because he was a crap choice, in any situation.

"Embry," I murmured, the word tasting smooth and sweet on my lips as I looked up at him intensely. "Baby, there was never a choice." Embry grinned at me, and I grinned back at him, but didn't mirror his unbridled joy. There had never been a choice, that much was true—but my mother was still a blip on my radar. Her trial wasn't for another couple weeks—things were apparently very backed up at the courthouse, which, because of state budget cuts, had only one judge in three days a week. So until she was settled in whatever jail that she'd be spending the next 3-5 years in, I wasn't going to be able to relax.

"I swear to god, you guys are adorable." Emily interrupted knowingly, and I sighed in exasperation, pulling away from Embry as the back door slammed open. Derrick walked out, rubbing at his eyes—my old-man of a twin brother had taken a nap—and waving an envelope in the air, his gaze flicking around the yard from person to person before it landed on me.

"Rose Mehta!" He called out, holding out the three large envelopes. "We have some pretty big envelopes here, Sis." I blinked, then grinned, tearing up to Derrick and grabbing the three envelopes.

"Three?" I asked, after a second, frowning. "When'd I apply for the third one?" I asked, and Derrick grinned sheepishly at me, ruffling my hair before jogging down the steps. I swatted at him, giving him a warning look.

"It was Leah's idea." He said defensively, and I raised my eyebrows, shuffling through the large envelopes in my hands. "And then we ran it by Embry and he agreed it was a good—"

"_Stanford_?" I squeaked out as my eyes landed on the return address that had been printed out in the corner of the envelope. "_You sent in my application to Stanford_?" I looked up at Derrick, my eyes wide, and then looked at Embry across the yard, who grinned back at me. "What in the name of…" I fell silent, looking back down at the _really big _envelope in my hands. No school sent out really big rejection letters. That would be a really godawful joke.

"Your SATs were freaking genius level there, Ro." Derrick reminded me. "Your grades were perfect, until last year you were in the school newspaper and a teacher's aide…" My brother shrugged. "Lee, Embry and me didn't do a lot of the work here. We just sent stuff in." I stared down at the envelope.

"That's like, fifteen hours away, though." I said faintly. "I couldn't come home every weekend." I looked up at my boyfriend, who was watching me carefully. "Would that be okay?" I asked. Embry nodded once, watching me intently.

"We'd be the ones who'd have to make the haul, but yeah." Embry said quietly. "For Stanford? 'Course it would be fine." He paused, then grinned proudly at me. "You know we'd manage east coast, if you wanted to go there." I grinned back at him, looking back down at the envelopes in my hands.

"Okay, I'm going to build up to Stanford University." I decided aloud. "I'm gonna open Whitman first." I shoved the other two at my twin and tore open the top of the envelope. I pull out the actual papers within, putting them on top of the envelope. I skimmed the first paragraph before my grin actually threatened to split my face in half. "I'm in!" I said happily, looking up at the group that had now gathered around me. I didn't pay attention to what else they said to me, grabbing the Stanford envelope from Derrick. "Hell to waiting." I murmured, tearing open the envelope. I tugged out the Stanford letter, staring down at the paper in front of me silently as I stared at the paper.

"So…?" Sam asked after a second. I was still silent. "Hey, Kid, if you didn't get in, it's okay. You're still a genius. You're still gonna have fun at college and—now you get to be close to Embry." He said, and I looked up, completely shocked. My gaze landed on Derrick, who was looking horrified.

"Ro—" He began apologetically, but I shook my head once, making him fall silent.

"I got _in_," I breathed. Derrick blinked.

"You got in." He echoed.

"You got in to _Stanford_?" Jared clarified. I held up the letter, reading aloud.

"Stanford University is pleased to accept Rose Mehta into the class of 2014." I breathed reverently, and there was a few beats of silence before Emily screamed, and slammed into me, hugging me tightly.

"You're going to Stanford!" She cried happily, and I hugged her back, the papers still in my hand. "You're a genius!" We jumped up for a second before I released her, turning to Embry before he swept me up in his giant wolf-boy arms. I giggled excitedly for a half a second before I kissed him hungrily, sheer elation filling me. I pressed myself flush against him, our closeness making my skin tingle—

And then I remembered whose idea it was for Derrick to send in my application.

I dragged myself from Embry, grinning apologetically at him. "I've got to go thank someone, babe—I'll be back in an hour and a half, okay?" Embry blinked in surprise, but I was already out of his arms.

"Where are you going?" Jared demanded as Derrick handed me his keys as I passed him, taking the back steps up two at a time.

"Leah's!" I called behind me.

Thirty minutes later I pulled up to the Clearwater's address as texted to me by Derrick, and I took a deep breath, grabbing my acceptance letter before getting out of the car. I didn't want to scare the poor Clearwaters with my excitement.

I bounded to the door, knocking fast and quick. I waited for the door to open, shifting from foot to foot like the crazy person I was. I stopped, looking down at the paper in my hands. This wasn't possible.

"Hello?" A woman in her forties, I'd guess, answered the door, and she smiled politely, albeit confusedly, at me.

"Hi, I'm a friend of Leah's…" I said, and the woman blinked at me, before she smiled happily.

"She's in the living room with Seth—" Her face dropped for a second as she closed the door a little bit, keeping her the only thing visible so I couldn't see back into the house. "Wait, I'm sorry, how does she know you?"

"I'm Embry Call's fiancée and Derrick and Sam's sister." I clarified, and Mrs. Clearwater nodded, grinning once more as she opened the door. I grinned a thank you at her and bounded past her and through the foyer, straight forward, and into the kitchen. I spun around, turning to face Mrs. Clearwater, who laughed and pointed into another room: I sprinted in there, stopping in the doorway.

"Leah Clearwater, I _love_ you." I declared in the doorway, and Seth and Leah, both of whom had been lazing on the couch, looked up at me. "You are my hero." I told her easily, moving to sit beside her. "You are an _angel_." I exhaled heavily, turning to her and the already-crinkled paper. "You submitted an application for me to Stanford. You are the reason I'm going to Stanford." She took the letter, looking over it, before she grinned a little, looking up at me. "Leah Clearwater, I'm leaving Embry for you. But shh, don't tell him yet. I have to tell him gently." I joked, and Seth snorted in laughter beside his sister.

"Congrats." She said quietly to me.

"Congrats?" I demanded. "That's all you have to _say_?" I gaped at her. "I should be crowning you Queen Leah of the Wolf-Teenagers and buying you cars if I had any money at all and _Leah_. This is a _freaking_ big deal." I reiterated, shaking the paper. "You got me into _college_. And not just any college but _Stanford_." I stared at her. "You changed my entire _freaking_ future by making my brother send in the application."

"I just filled in an application for you." She muttered, embarrassed. "You got the grades."

"Leah, shut up." Seth groaned, punching his sister's arm and earning himself a lethal glare. "Accept the praise. Be Queen Leah of the Wolf People."

"Thank you Seth." I said to him, before turning to Leah. "C'mon, Leah, let me make this up to you or something. I mean, not that I could _possibly_ do anything to make this up to you but let me—" I paused. "Come up with something I can do and I swear to God I will do it."

"Rose, it's fine." Leah muttered. "Your paper on your mother got you in. I was barely anything in this process. That essay was legitimately beautiful." I fell silent, then blushed. "I was surprised by how much you'd forgiven her for your childhood." I nodded once.

"I haven't really forgiven her for Derrick's." I admitted after a second, a rueful smile on my face. Seth was pretending to concentrate on the television, but I knew better. "It's part of the reason that I was so able to choose Embry, you know? I can forgive her screwing me up. But Derrick's my close-to little brother." I shrugged a little.

"Yeah well, the endless irony of little brothers is that you can't stand with them until you need to protect them from all the crap the world has to offer." Leah said shortly. Seth glared at her, now, and Leah just looked at him, raising her eyebrows. "Got an argument there, short stuff?" She demanded.

"I'm like, twelve feet taller than most grown men!" Seth protested, pouting now. "And I've got a foot on you, at least—"

"Wait, we got off track here." I stopped, holding up my hands. "Queen Leah, what do you want as a massive favor back for getting my application to Stanford?" I asked, looking at her.

"I'll think of something." Leah promised, and I nodded in satisfaction, leaning back against the couch. We just sat there in silence for a moment, watching Boston College squish some scrawny Ice Hockey team I didn't even really know the name of.

"I'm not _short stuff_." Seth whined finally, sitting up and looking angrily at Leah and me again. "I'm _tall_!"


	28. In Which I am Coerced Several Times

Chapter 28

"Emily?" I asked, looking up from the guest list before me to the young woman sitting in front of me. Emily was frantically checking the dimensions of her wedding cake to see how much of the table it took up so we could see what else we could fit on the table. Apparently, if the dimensions were wrong, the world would end. There was no using a different table. No shortening the cake by an inch. Nope. The world would just end. Right then and there.

We were sitting at Sam and Emily's dining room table while the boys played video games, piled on the couch: it was sunny bright outside. That meant vampires were all sparkly, and thus, every single one of the boys had the day off. Also, Paul and Jake had gotten in a fight and Jake had to let the stitches in his shoulder heal before he phased again because there was a difference in the healing process in wolves and boys. Shocking, I know.

It'd been two weeks since I'd been accepted to Stanford, and there'd still been no word on my mother, aside from a five-word email from Walt: I got her a lawyer. Walter had gotten what he wanted, now—his sister. He just wanted to take care of my mother. Derrick and I were collateral damage. But as long as he stayed away from us, I was kind of alright with that. Or, I'd gotten over what I wasn't alright with.

"One second, Rosie," Emily said in a tense voice, her index finger tracing down the list in front of her as she attempted to track down the numbers. "C'mon it's right—It has to be—"

"Emily."

"Rose, give me a second—"

"Emily, this is—"

"Found it!"

"Emily, there are seventy nine guests on this list." I said in an annoyed voice, fixing my sister-in-law-to-be with a glare. Emily froze, her finger frozen on the legal pad in front of her. Then she looked up at me very, very slowly.

"Seventy nine?" She asked carefully.

"Seventy nine." I agreed.

"That isn't seventy five." Emily murmured, her eyes widening.

"True." I agreed mildly, looking down at this list. "Seventy nine people have received invitations to your wedding." I shook my head a little. "Let's pray no one has a plus one."

"No—No, we sent them out yesterday." Emily said frantically, waving her hand at me to shush me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, they haven't been _received_, per se, but they are nonetheless out of our hands." I pointed out, and Emily's eyes narrowed in a way that scared me. I could practically see the cogs turn on her face as she figured a way out of this—Emily was smart, when she wasn't gushing about how perfect a couple Embry and I were.

"Sam!" Emily cried out suddenly, standing up with a clatter, and her imprint looked up, his eyes wide and panicky as he shoved Paul so he could stand up and envelop Emily in his arms in a half second. He looked down at her worriedly.

"What's wrong?" He asked frantically.

"There are seventy nine people coming to our wedding!" She wailed, hiding her face in his chest, and my half brother looked at me for an explanation as to why this was the disaster it evidently _was_.

"Oh… no?" Sam said uncertainly. Emily pulled away from Sam, her hands on his chest as she stared up at him accusingly. "Baby, I'm sorry, I don't understand why that's a problem." Sam said softly with a small hopeful smile.

Yeah, nice try there, big bro.

"_Our backyard only seats seventy five_," Emily ground out between her teeth, going from sorrowful to pissed off in a half second. Sam nodded a little, seemingly understanding the problem now, but not understanding why this was making her cry.

"We can get more seats." He told her softly. "The company we're renting from has hundreds and hundreds of chairs, angel, and they'll even all—"

"A small wedding of seventy five." Emily said carefully, her words tense, and I considered what I was actually going to do if my legal guardian was murdered by his fiancée for not understanding that her wedding day had to be perfect. "That sounds nice." I traded looks with Derrick across the room. If Emily freaked out, I knew either Derrick or me would get the fall out from Sam. "Do you know what doesn't sound nice?" Emily's voice was too patient, the classic sign that she was about to tear someone a new one. "A small wedding of seventy _nine_. And let's all pray that not a single person invited has a plus one." She narrowed her eyes. "Plus one will destroy my wedding. My guest list will destroy my wedding."

"Ah." Sam murmured, as if this somehow explained anything.

"I need someone to go get the invitations." Emily murmured, looking seriously up at Sam, her gaze booring into his, and I blinked.

"Emily, I would like to point out that stealing mail is a federal offense." Derrick said quietly from the couch in the living room, watching our big brother and Emily with concern. "You should not steal the mail. You'll get arrested." Derrick glanced at me for confirmation, and I nodded once, emphatically. Derrick was very, very right on this one.

"I'm not going to steal the mail." Emily said, turning to me, her eyes wide, and I stared at her for a second.

"You are not suggesting—"

"You're my sister-in-law—"

"I just got into _college. _I am _not_ sacrificing my _future_ for your wedding!" I protested, crossing my arms across my chest. "I don't need a federal offense on my resumé." I shuddered at the idea, and Derrick nodded seriously, despite the fact that this conversation no longer had anything to do with me.

"You are my _maid of honor_ Rose Mehta! I get to request some stupid stuff like a weird type of flower or you listen to five million songs with me to chose the best—"

"No." I said flatly. "That is not what's going on here. You are not asking for a favor or a bachelorette party—you are asking for a crime—" I cut myself off, shaking my head. "Emily. I'm not going to do this."

Two hours later, I was sitting outside Sam's cousins' home with Paul, who had been the last one to shot-not coming with me.

"I can't believe this is happening." I murmured, staring straight ahead, my hands on the wheel. "I cannot believe this. It is _insane_." I fell silent, shaking my head once. "I'm committing a crime. I'm going to college in the fall—a _good_ college—and I'm risking it for some stupid invitations." I shook my head again. "I'm going to get caught and get arrested."

"Ugh, stop whining." Paul muttered angrily, turning to glare at me. "You didn't _have_ to come. No one made you—no one physically threw you in the car and locked the door. You could have not come." He rolled his eyes. "Nothing's gonna happen. You're not going to get caught. Aren't you a senior in high school? You must have done something at some point that you could have gotten in trouble for."

"I wasn't perfect, but I certainly wasn't vandalizing school property like someone _else_ in this car." I retorted, throwing a scowl at Paul. "And why are you in the worst mood _ever_?" I demanded. "Jake make fun of you and Rachel again?" I grinned, and Paul turned to me, actual anguish on his face—and I fell silent. Paul was obviously feeling actual emotions, and, it occurred to me now, as I considered this, that Paul was the best at shot-not. Wolf-boy World Champion, in fact.

He'd lost on purpose. He'd wanted to get me alone so he could talk to me.

"What's wrong?" I demanded.

"I know who Embry's dad is." Paul said quietly, looking at me seriously. I stared at him, my heart speeding up as this statement made a boatload of adrenaline hit my veins. Paul knew who Embry's dad was—and Embry's dad was a big important thing. Until he turned twelve, Embry had _cried_ every father's day. Not that the guys knew that, but it had happened. Embry's dad was a big freaking deal.

"Who?" I murmured, keeping my voice quiet instinctively. Paul sighed heavily, ducking his head and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly before he looked up at me, frowning a little.

"Jake's dad." He said quietly. "Embry's dad is Jake's dad." I exhaled slowly, my eyes widening. "Jake and Embry are half brothers." He swallowed, looking at me. "Rachel told me—Mr. Black didn't cheat, but he and Mrs. Black were separated while Mrs. Black was pregnant with Jake but didn't know it and then Mr. Black dated Embry's Mom and got _her_ pregnant but Mrs. Black told him she was pregnant and Ms. Call told Mr. Black it was okay, he could go back to his wife."

"Why didn't... Mr. Black...do anything for Embry?" I demanded after a second, angry. "Embry needed a _dad_—"

"Mrs. Black died when Jake was like nine-years-old, Ro—"

"I know _that_," I muttered. The funeral hadn't been my first—my grandparents had both passed away when I was seven, within days of each other—but it had by far been the saddest. As much as I loved my grandparents, Mrs. Black had literally been there every day of my life since Jake, Derrick, Embry and I had been at La Push Family Daycare together. Mrs. Black had also been there when Mom flipped out and had been a big part of the group that helped Walt raise us for years that he did. "What does that have to—"

"He'd already played at not being Em's dad long enough that he had to keep it up—and how d'you think Rebecca and Jake and Rache would have been with a new sibling after their Mom had just died?" Paul fixed me with an irritated expression. "I know it was a bad decision but seriously think about Mr. Black trying to preserve his—"

"Embry is my _imprint_." I told him angrily. "My _fiancé_, my other half—and before all that, Paul, he's been my best friend since we were really, really young." I shook my head, glaring. "Embry needed a dad and I cannot _believe_ that Mr. Black was depriving him of one."

"Rachel is my imprint." Paul pointed out, raising an eyebrow as he looked at me seriously. I rolled my eyes—whether Embry had deserved a father was not the point. The point was—one existed.

"I have to tell him." I murmured, and Paul shrugged. "Don't you think he deserves to know?" I demanded.

"Mr. Black may not accept him." Paul pointed out quietly, for once reasonable. "You're not taking into account that fact. You had the smoothest reunion with a parent who rejected you ever— it may not go that well for Embry." I stared at Paul, my head spinning.

"If that man hurts Embry I'm going to crush him like a bug." I murmured. Paul chuckled quietly, looking out the window, and I frowned at him, realizing, suddenly, what it must have taken to tell me this. Paul's imprint had told him this, presumably in confidence, and Paul had just told me. So I could either tell Embry or help soften the blow when he found out somewhere else.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked softly.

"Rachel may be my imprint." Paul acknowledged, turning to me. "But Jake and Embry are my brothers. You've been a friend, or a frenemy, forever." He pointed out. "And one day you're going to have kids with Embry and Jake's going to—something, with his little halfbreed—" Paul's not-so-fond name for Renesmee, which I thought was kind of ironic, because that was what the vampires called the werewolves when they were mad, "And those potential children, they don't deserve this fallout in their lifetime. When they're born, they should know who all their grandparents are, even if they're not around."

I stared at Paul for a minute before I smiled a little uncertainly at him. I had never heard Paul talk like this. Like he had a future in mind, like that future involved anyone other than his own, lonely, angry existence. "You're a good person." I told him after a second, and he rolled his eyes. "Rachel's softened you."

"Well I finally get what all the guys go on about when they talk about their imprints." Paul said with a chuckle in his voice, turning back to me with a smile. "I finally get Embry's visions of _your_ children—"

"That's so cute!" I half squeaked, before I realized once more that I was getting off topic. "Wait—so, to clarify, the purpose of this was so that I would have to tell Embry that Jake's dad was his dad."

"And Jake." Paul said firmly. I glared at him. "What?" Paul demanded, glaring back at me, and I almost laughed at how typical this side of Paul was. "I have the "emotional capacity of a fruitfly," as Rachel so charmingly puts it, Derrick is—Derrick, Jared has drama with Brady," Brady's parents were not pleased with having a werewolf child and Brady was Jared's cousin, so there _was_ family drama there, "Embry and Jake are _both_ involved, Collin is too young, I'm not talking to Renesmee of my own free will and Quil—"

"I get it, I get it." I muttered irritatedly, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm in charge of telling Embry."

"And Jake." Paul echoed.

"I hate you." I said flatly.

"I'll recover from the emotional trauma, I'm sure." Paul said sarcastically, glancing back out the window. "And the mailman just left." He said, in a complete non sequitor, and it took me a solid five seconds to realize what he was talking about.

"Oh! We're stealing mail." I remembered aloud, and Paul snorted in laughter. I opened the driver's side of the car, hopping out and going around the back, glancing up and down the pretty much empty street before darting up the front walk. I snatched the mail off the front step, shuffling through it quickly before grabbing the now-familiar eggshell-white envelope. I dropped the rest of the mail, holding the invitation up triumphantly, and Paul gestured for me to hurry, scooting into the driver's seat as I ran up to the car. I slipped into the car, slamming the door shut and grinning a little as Paul tore off, and I tossed the card into the back seat. My grin dropped, however, as I considered my new task.

Embry was going to hate this—hate that he'd known his father but never known he was his father. And he was going to be upset and would probably phase. But Jake—poor Jake was going to be so much worse.

Jake was going to _hate_ Mr. Black.


	29. In Which Jake Snaps

Chapter 29

_I am not a chicken_. I thought firmly to myself as I walked up Embry's front walk, my heart pounding in my chest. _I am not a chicken. I _feel _like a chicken, but I am not one_. I sighed as I readjusted my purse on my shoulder, reaching out to knock on the front door of the home. I had to do this though, and this was the hardest part.

I had to ask Ms. Call what the hell she'd been thinking all these years.

I'd watched Embry grow up without a dad, watched him flounder uncomfortably at father-son events at school and other places. Ms. Call could have demanded Mr. Black get involved—Mr. Black, with three children. He was already a father, he can't have been scared of parenting: I didn't understand. I just didn't understand what kind of breakdown had occurred in my friends' parents' brains to allow Jake and Embry to both get to eighteen—_eighteen_—without realizing that they were brothers.

"Rosie!" Ms. Call said warmly as she opened the door, and my heart sank a little as she pulled me into a tight hug, and I hugged her back. Embry's Mom was too nice. It sucked. If she'd been bitchy this would have worked out fine, I could yell at her, defend Embry, explain that what she'd done had been legitimately emotionally scarring.

But Ms. Call was so _nice_.

So I pulled away and, because I am Queen Awkward of Awkward-Land, I just spluttered out the words I'd been planning to build up to: "I know who Embry's dad is."

Ms. Call's warm smile dropped, but she didn't look mean, just shocked, before she moved back in the door way, pushing the front door further back to let me in. She led the way into the kitchen, and I followed her carefully, shuffling my feet, and she gestured for me to sit at the kitchen counter as she took out two glasses and a pitcher of that that powder-and-water lemonade that Embry and I had mixed last night, pouring some into each glass and setting one in front of me. I just unzipped my jacket, watching her carefully.

"I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner." Ms. Call said finally, her voice soft, and I swallowed, a little confused. "I knew that Billy's older daughters knew—Rachel and Rebecca? They were four, maybe five, when Embry and Jake were born. They weren't old enough to have vivid memories, certainly, but Rachel was so smart…" The way Ms. Call talked about Mr. Black's children as if they were her own made my mind jump back to when Mrs. Black, Jake's Mom, had died. How Ms. Call had helped Billy put his life back together, how she'd gotten the twins and Jake to school, signed them up for things—she'd helped raised the children of the woman that the father of _her_ child left her for.

"How could you not tell Embry?" I asked softly, keeping as much accusation as possible out of my voice. "He need a dad—he _wanted_ a dad. So, so badly." I paused. "And Jared's dad was there a lot, and Mr. Gentry's a great guy and he came through for Embry a lot—but he's not the same as Embry's real father…" I shook my head, picking up the lemonade and taking a careful sip. "I don't get how you could just let Mr. Black waltz back to his family and forget Embry…"

"Rose…" Ms. Call said, and I watched her carefully, impressed that she seemed to want to be honest with me. "Billy was never mine in the first place. He was never my husband, or even my boyfriend—I was a fling, a little bit of a rebound while he got over anything still left for Sarah, and I knew that and was fine with that—and then I was pregnant." Ms. Call sighed. "And so was Sarah. And to her credit—God bless that woman, I don't know why she didn't kill me—she was willing to accept Embry as her kids' half-sibling. She wasn't that pleased with me but she had a soft spot for children…" Ms. Call sighed. "But Embry would have been shunned his entire childhood. He would have had three legitimate siblings and then him. And I loved Sarah, she was a fairly good friend of mine by the time the boys and you started day care…" Ms. Call fixed me with a look. "But I couldn't have her raise my child."

"She wanted to take Embry from you?" I asked confusedly.

"No." Ms. Call said firmly. "Sarah didn't want to do that…But letting another maternal figure into your child's life—Rose, I couldn't fathom it. I was already reeling from the prospect of single parenthood, I couldn't let Embry grow up knowing Sarah and me as his mother—" She fell silent as what she was really saying set in on me. Ms. Call looked teary, all the sudden. "I deprived my child of three parents and gave him one and took away his siblings…" She sounded shaky and uncertain, and I felt my heart lurch. She was right. She'd been worried about being jealous of a woman who already had three children with the father of her child. So she hadn't let him into Embry's life.

That wasn't a good thing.

But she hadn't…been a bad mother. She'd been a great mother. She loved Embry, had been there at every baseball game, every school play, every parent-teacher night. Ms. Call had been there. She'd played catch with Embry and taught him to kick a soccer ball (and Derrick and me too, oddly enough) and taught him to cook Thanksgiving Dinner.

Was being a good mother enough to make up for depriving him of a father?

"I have to tell Embry." I said softly, finally, and Ms. Call sighed, reaching up to wipe some of the moisture from her eyes, and I felt a surge of sympathy for the woman who had, in conjunction with my uncle, raised me. "He's my fiancé. And my imprint, and my other half." I knew I sounded desperate and I knew I was making excuses, but I couldn't help it. "I can't just let this slide by, Ms. Call—"

"Please, you'll be my daughter-in-law, it's Teresa, now." She said with a small chuckle. "Besides, you'll be Mrs. Call, so that will get confusing." I felt a silly smile bloom on my face as I considered her words: I would be Rose Call. Well, Rose Mehta Call. I liked the way Rose Mehta sounded too much to let it go completely. "And I know." Her voice was softer now. "You should tell him, and Sarah's son, too." She shook her head, sighing a little. "I wish it hadn't taken this long, I really do. I should have told him." I didn't say anything to that.

She was right.

...

"I don't want to do this." I told Derrick unhappily on the phone as I spun around on the stool at the kitchen counter in Embry's kitchen, a few hours later: I was using his house, which by far had the least breakable kitchen. "I want to let their parents do this." I sighed. "Their parents _should_ be doing this."

"Well yes, Rosie, but you're marrying Embry one day and then, hopefully not very soon," I frowned at Derrick's words, "you'll have tiny wolf children and those wolf children need a grandfather."

"Yeah, but…" I sighed. "We didn't have parents or grandparents to speak of. We're fine." I sighed in exasperation. "Grandparents seem superfluous." I bit my lip.

"Yeah, you really want your kids as screwed up as we are." Derrick murmured.

"My children will be, whenever I decide to have them, perfect." I said defensively, frowning a little despite the fact that Derrick couldn't see me. "And by the way—my future children have come up like ten times in the last few days. And I'm _not_ pregnant so I'm not sure why _that_ is—"

"You better not be pregnant." Derrick muttered angrily. "You and Embry aren't even married—"

"When d'you become conservative?" I demanded, laughing a little at how protective Derrick sounded. "And you know I'm getting my college degree from Stanford. No children right now." I sighed a little. "But wait, d'you know why my future children—far, far in the future—are coming up so often recently?" I demanded, and Derrick coughed out a mocking laugh.

"Nah, it's probably just because that's all Embry thinks about." I heard Derrick shudder a little. "It's very disturbing for your beloved twin brother." Derrick paused, then spoke carefully, testing the waters: "He wants kids with you. Like, twelve."

"He knows that's not realistic, right?" I demanded frantically, grabbing the countertop tightly. "I'm willing to get up to three and then I'm calling it quits."

"Yeah, yeah, he's not stupid." Derrick said easily.

"I heard a car pull up outfront. "Ugh, Der, I gotta go tell my boyfriend who his dad is."

"Have fun with that." Der said sarcastically, and I rolled my eyes, hanging up on him as I slid to my feet easily. How exactly this responsibility had fallen to me, I didn't understand, but it did have to happen. And unless Mr. Black sucked it up, I had to tell Jake and Embry.

"Rosie?" Embry called hopefully from the front door, and I couldn't help the silly smile that rose to my lips as I bounded forward, bouncing up to slip my arms around his neck and kissing him as my eyes slid shut as I inhaled his scent. Everytime I was with him was one less second that he could be killed by some vampire out in the forest.

"Hey baby," I breathed as I pulled back from him, and he reluctantly let me slide back into a proper standing position instead of the tippytoes I'd been on while I kissed him. I pulled my arms back, tightly crossing them against my chest, and Jake looked us, seeming vaguely irritated.

"Tell me I'm not here just to watch you two make out." Jake said displeasedly, raising an eyebrow. I fixed him with a look before I led the way into Embry's living room, feeling a little awkward as I did. Embry didn't seem to find it weird that I was leading him around his house, though, and he just sat down on the couch opposite the armchair I'd chosen, and I pulled my feet onto the chair to sit with my legs crossed while Jake flopped down on the other end of the couch. "So what's up?" Jake asked, sounding a little nicer, now.

"I know something... that you should know." I said cryptically, and Jake frowned, sitting up straighter, while Embry's face flashed to concerned. "Well..." I took a deep breath, deciding on the best way to say this. "Okay, Jake, before you were born, your parents went though a rough patch or something, they were separated--" He nodded hurriedly, his expression darkening. "And your dad dated Embry's Mom in this time." Jake seemed to guess where this was going, but Embry looked just as confused as ever. "And they, y'know, slept together, but then Mrs. Black was pregnant--" I paused, trying to let the boys jump to conclusions, but they didn't. "And then Ms. Call got pregnant and even though she and Mr. Black were going to have this baby together, she told Mr. Black to go back to his wife and his daughters, because they needed him more." I let my voice drift off, and Embry just stared at me blankly.

"Embry's my brother?" Jake demanded quietly, cutting to the chase. I nodded a little. "But they were--"

"Mr. Black." Embry said in a voice that barely suppressed his anger. "Mr. Black got my mom pregnant, abandoned her, abandoned me--"

"Your mom let him go, Em." I pointed out softly, but Embry was already up and out the back door. I didn't bother following him, and it had been only second since the door shut behind him when I heard the all time most agonized howl I'd ever heard in my entire life. I felt a surge of sorrow myself: an imprint couldn't hear her wolf howl like that without being upset. Tears jumped to my eyes as he howled again, and I swiped at my eyes as his howl faded into the distance: he'd sprinted into the woods, desperate to get the hell away from the house lest his wolf self lose control and hurt me.

"How could Dad not have told me?" Jake's voice was quiet, more philosophical than I would have guessed . "How..." He sighed as I looked back at him, his head in his hands. "How could Mom not have told me?" His voice was rough, and I wished for the first time that Jake's Renesmee was an adult, able to take care of her wolfboy. But she wasn't, and I happened to be here.

"They loved your family." I said softly to Jake. "It sucked for Embry but--you and Rebecca and Rachel got to be real people."

"We would have been real people with a half brother." Jake said quietly, and I heard the anger bubbling under the surface, saw how hurt he was when he looked up at me. I'd known Jake for years. He couldn't be this hurt and have me not know about it. "I'm only five months older than Embry, it wouldn't have been that difficult to have us--" He was suddenly almost yelling, taking his anger out on me, and I couldn't help but lash back.

"Look, what do you want me to tell you?" I asked him tiredly. "I disagree with your parents' decision but--" I sighed. "I get, at least, where they were coming from. And Embry had his mom. Who loves him so, so much. And your mom loved you all so, so much." I tilted my head to the side a little, then shook it once a little bit. "I do not understand your father, though."

"Dad loves me. When he's not busy hating Bells and missing Rebecca, Dad loves me." He said defensively, glaring, and I just looked at him for a long moment.

"He should have loved Embry." I pointed out softly. "Em deserved a dad."

"And we didn't?" Jake demanded angrily. "We barely got a mom--"

"As a kid who watched her brother and her best friend without dads, I'm telling you right now, boys need fathers." I said seriously. "I'm a girl and I needed a father."

"Yeah, but you didn't have parents. You can't call out my family for being dysfuctional." Jake muttered, and I swallowed the hurt. His family was taking a few hits and he was hitting back. Otherwise I would have snapped on him because as really anyone knew, I didn't take hits at my family well.

"Jake, I'm sorry." I said softly. The head of my brothers' and fiance's pack didn't respond, standing up as he began to shake--but he wasn't fast enough.

Jake's clothing ripped as fur burst through his skin, and I felt panic seize me in an indirect way, the way it did as Embry realized something horrible when he was being a wolf. Jake's sheer hugeness knocked over the chair I was in like a children's toy, sending me tumbling backwards into the wall, and I winced as forehead somehow connected with the edge of a side table, and then Jake's leg knocked the table so it flipped over me, and I rolled onto my side, shielding my head with my arms. I heard more furniture fall and the floor boards groan, and I screamed shortly as Jake howled his loudest, and I opened my eyes, but I dizzily considered the state of disaster that had overtaken Embry's living room--and more than that, when had I closed my eyes? I watched Jake's giant paws gallop past the chair I was currently pinned under, and he struggled out the back door of Embry's home, smashing through the sliding glass doors.

And then there was the frantic howling of wolves, more insistent than I'd ever heard before. I could identify all the boys by their howls, now--Derrick, Jake, Sam, Paul, Jared, Quil, Collin, Seth, Brady, Leah, Embry (obviously). Embry was angrier than I'd ever heard him, and the yipping that continued after that proved that he'd taken that out on Jake. But I was still under my chair.

I felt kind of dizzy and nauseous as I pushed myself up a little, schooching back on the floor so I could sit up properly, the chair now over my legs. I waited for some of the dizziness to subside before I reached up, weakly pushing at the chair on my legs--and then Derrick and Jared were standing in the remnants of the back door.

"Rosie..." Jared sounded frightened beyond belief in the one word, but Derrick just sprinted the five steps to me, pulling the chair off and chucking it clear across Embry's already-demolished living room. Jared glanced at Derrick as my brother crouched down beside me nervously, putting a hand on my back to help hold me up, and I just shrugged uncomfortably, pushing my hair out of my face, and Derrick pulled a face.

"You hit your head..." He murmured unhappily, his eyes focusing on my forehead, right above my own gaze.

"I'm--" _fine_, I meant to say, but somehow, all I managed to do was shove myself to feet, stumbling to the sink to vomit up my lunch, my head pounding now. I pulled my own hair back my hands quickly replaced by Jared's: he'd done this before, at our first high school party Freshman year. We'd both gotten plastered, somehow stumbled back to his house, and his parents had decided that as much fun as it would have been to punish us, the fact that we spent the next six hours puking up everything that we'd ever consumed was enough.

"You have a concussion." Jared said darkly.

"I'm still conscious, I'm fine." I told him irritatedly as I pulled back from the sink, tearing a paper towel off and swiping at my mouth.

"Concussions are serious things." Jared murmured. "You should go to a doctor."

"The only doctor I could go to is Carlisle and I'm not seeing Edward." I said shakily, bracing myself against the countertop, and Derrick moved forward to easily lift me onto the countertop, and I frowned at him, feeling like a four-year-old as he put a hand on the side of my head, inspecting the bump just above my right eyebrow. Jared moved to Embry's refrigerator, grabbing a plastic bag from a drawer along the way, and Derrick frowned at me.

"Ro, can you remember what happened? D'you think you blacked out at any point?" He asked me professionally, and I glared at him.

"I was telling Jared and Embry about Mr. Black being both their fathers, and then Jake destroyed the living room." I sighed. Derrick's expression darkened. "I didn't black out."

"Jake nearly killed you." Derrick murmured.

"He didn't mean to." I said plainly. "And there was nothing killer about it--he knocked over my chair, Derrick. He didn't go for me or anything, there's not even a scratch on me." I murmured.

"Embry's gonna kill him." Jared said quietly, exchanging looks with Derrick.

"Jake's going to kill his dad first." I murmured, looking down. "Jesus, this is a disaster." I paused. "No one wanted this for either of them. I don't get why their parents didn't tell them in the first place..." I bit my lip. "I tried telling Jake that it'd been for the best in their view, that his mom had loved him and that Embry's mom loved _him_ and I... told him I didn't get his dad, because I don't." I said frankly, and Jared winced. "And he said a girl with no parents had no business calling his family dysfunctional." Derrick's expression darkened. "Der, it's fine." I said quietly. "He was hurting and mad and lashed out--and doesn't that sound like someone else, recently?" I asked him with a knowing look: Derrick had been really mean to me back when I'd gotten us placed with Sam instead of a foster home. Derrick glared at me, but remained silent: I was right, and he hated it.

I did too.


	30. In Which the Doctor is In

A/N: Soooo no big deal that i have a bio test/history research paper meeting/french quiz and still posted. i just, you know, am going to flunk out of high school. no biggie. i can get a job as something that doesn't require a high school degree--thoughts, anyone?

no, lol, i'm not actually failing out for FF. actually, i just got my report card and it was great :DD. so this chapter will soon be followed by a happy chapter to celebrate. YAY.

anyway, though, the point of this tangent was that i would very much like some reviews. i've only gotten very few on recent chappies. so reviews are necessary, kids.

thanks!

...

Chapter 30

"Rose, Derrick, how nice to see you again." Dr. Cullen said pleasantly an hour later: predictably, Derrick had not been satisfied with my self-diagnosis of "being fine." So now I was getting out of my brother's hummer in front of the damned vampires house.

"Dr. Cullen." I said, raising a hand to greet the man rather than nod to him: my head was _pounding_. My brother didn't say anything to the man, just glanced over as two wolves came out of the woods—Paul and Jared. I walked carefully around the car, and Derrick shot me a worried look as Paul and Jared disappeared around the back of the house so they could phase.

"Is everything alright?" Dr. Cullen asked, and Edward and Bella walked at a very human speed onto the front porch. I glared at Edward angrily, but said nothing; thankfully, Derrick took care of that.

"Rose is hurt and we didn't know who else to go to—but Edward can't be here." Derrick said firmly. Dr. Cullen's eyebrows rose as he looked first at his son, then back to us.

"Edward is my son and as is this is my home, he is welcome here." Dr. Cullen said quietly. Jared and Paul came around the side of the house, human now, and I leaned a little against Derrick, my head pounding. "What happened to Rose?"

"Jake phased, sounds like he nearly threw her across the living room." Edward said quietly, and I swallowed my surprise: I knew that he could read minds, but I was still always shocked at it. "Rose has a concussion." Derrick bristled at this revelation, but I beat him to a response.

"Get out of my head." I hissed at him, glaring. Edward sighed quietly, grabbing Bella Cullen's hand, their fingers weaving together automatically. "You have no right."

"I don't. You're right." Edward said quietly. "But I'm there anyway so I might as well share what I learn." I fixed him with a look—that did _not_ make any sense at all—before I just looked back at Dr. Cullen.

"I told the guys I was fine but they didn't listen—I've got a concussion, I threw up, I didn't black out, as long as I don't sleep for the next six hours I'm fine." I rattled off quietly: the vampires would hear me if I were whispering. "There's no treatment, it just goes away after a couple of days, I know." I shot Derrick a dirty look. "He knows all of this too but he's paranoid."

"I wasn't paranoid until you started getting hurt everytime I turned around." Derrick muttered, embarrassed. "Seriously."

"How d'you know that much about concussions?" Edward asked curiously, and I pushed my hair out of my face tiredly, wincing as my fingers brushed the bump on my forehead.

"Derrick was a sports junkie." I said as I pulled my hair back in a ponytail. "And was always practicing whatever it was without a helmet on—baseball to the head, lacrosse ball to the head, hockey puck to the head, soccer ball to the head—" Derrick rolled his eyes, looking displeased at this change of subject. Edward raised his eyebrows, and I just met his gaze: I knew he'd thought it was because of my mother. But the fact of it was, Mom hadn't just smacked us around the last eighteen years. Mom had rarely hit us—she'd just been super dysfunctional. And I knew that had been wrong and it'd sucked that I'd gotten stuck taking care of her, but it'd been better than her hitting us.

"I didn't get that many concussions." Derrick muttered, embarrassed.

"I had to fake Mom's signature on like fifteen doctors' notes, so yeah, you you were doing _something_." I retorted, and Derrick frowned.

"Rose, can I just check your pupils to make sure I can let you go?" Dr. Cullen asked, and I reluctantly stepped forward, crossing my arms across my chest. Carlisle slipped inside the house and was back a half second later, a bag in his hand now, and he set it down on the porch, pulling out one of those things that doctors shined in your eyes that had little magnifying glasses or something. He held it up and shined it in my eye, and I winced in pain, squinting instinctively. He switched eyes, and I resisted the urge to blink as my eyes watered.

"Yes, you've got a little bit of a concussion." Dr. Cullen agreed quietly. "You'll be fine, though—" There was a howl in the woods, and I winced, closing my eyes painfully. Embry. "What's going on?"

"Embry and Jake are fighting." I muttered, rubbing my temples.

"Why?" Bella asked, taken aback, and I took a few shallow breaths before I opened my eyes to look at the wife of the man who'd called in my mother's transgressions.

"Mr. Black is Embry's father." I said quietly, glancing at Paul, who just met my gaze evenly. "Embry and Jake are brothers. Not that anyone knew, but they are."

"Jake?" A little girl came out of the house, as there was another howl, and we winced in unison, looking towards the sounds. "Where's Jake?"

"He's just having a little argument, Nessie…" Edward said, sweeping up the little girl, but she didn't seem comforted by her father.

"Jake's _mad_." She murmured, turning to look at me. "Why's Jakey mad?" She asked me curiously, and Edward's sharp gaze flicked to me warningly. I swallowed, looking at the little girl. I'd heard of her, mostly from Jake: she was Jake's imprint, and Edward and Bella's daughter.

"His dad hurt his feelings." I said after a moment, my voice gentle. "He kept a secret and it hurt Jake's feelings. And Embry's." I added after a second, and she nodded.

"Secrets are mean." She agreed quietly, and I swallowed uncomfortably: this was weird. "I've never met you before but I know who you are." She said after a second. "You're Rose. Embry _loves_ you." She grinned a little, amused by the concept of love. "Embry sometimes babysits me with Jake. He brings Claire over sometimes too." I nodded once, then winced at the pain. "And you have a brother and his name is Derrick." She said softly. "I don't have any brothers or sisters but I have aunts and uncles."

"I have aunts and uncles too." I said with a small smile. The little girl seemed to brighten at this, but before she could respond, Bella crossed to her daughter, plucking her out of her father's arms.

"Baby, it's time for a nap, say goodnight." Bella said softly to the girl, and Renesmee waved at me from her spot in her mother's arms.

"Will you come over with Embry next time he babysits me?" Renesmee asked me, and I resisted the urge to wince at the prospect of more time near the vampires.

"Sure." I said with a smile, and then Bella swept the little girl inside. I dropped my smile, but didn't resume glaring at Edward, who was watching me gratefully.

"Thank you." Carlisle said quietly. "For being nice to her."

"Little kids shouldn't pay for their parents' mistakes." I said softly. "Even if their parents made some damn huge mistakes." There was a beat of silence as this settled, before Derrick glanced at Jared and Paul as another howl sounded, and I winced.

"I'm gonna go break up whatever the hell it is they're doing now—someone take her home." He ordered.

"_Her_ can drive." I said in irritation.

"Not when her is concussed." Derrick retorted. I snatched his keys from him and he sighed in exasperation, watching me circle the car with an annoyed frown. "You're a four-year-old, d'you know that?" He demanded.

"We're twins, genius. If I'm four then you're four too." I told him, rolling my eyes painfully. Derrick cursed under his breath as I got in the car, slamming the door shut behind me before I slid the keys into the ignition, and Jared jumped in the passenger seat. Paul slid into the backseat, kicking his legs up on the actual seat. Derrick, standing in front of the car, glared at us.

"This isn't fair." He complained.

"You volunteered to go fix that." I said with a charming smile. "Have fun." And with that, I backed down the Cullens' driveway, Derrick glaring at me all the way down.

…

Forty minutes later I pulled up in front of Sam and Emily's house, tugging the keys out of the ignition forcefully. I got out of the car and stormed into the house, Jared and Paul following quietly: when I was in a bad mood, I was in a _freaking_ bad mood. And I hated being injured. So, so much.

I stomped into the living room, sinking down on the couch beside Sam, who was sitting there with his arm over the back of the couch. Quil was sitting in one of the arm chairs, and Brady was sitting in the other. All three of them eyed me warily, not even glancing up as Paul and Jared entered the room.

"How's your head?" Sam asked. I didn't even ask how he knew.

"I have a concussion." I muttered. Sam winced. "Derrick and Embry are probably teaming up to kill Jake. Jake's going to kill his father."

"Mr. Black's in Hawaii visiting Rebecca." Brady pointed out quietly, seemingly endlessly amused by my antics, and I shot him a lethal look. Jared bristled, shooting me a pointed scowl as he defended his cousin.

"Jake's going to swim to Hawaii." I insisted.

"Jake's a good swimmer." Sam murmured.

"Helpful, Sam." I shot back at him sarcastically, and my big brother put a hand on top of my head to ruffle my hair, and brushed the bump on my forehead with just the barest touch of his fingers—I winced, squeezing my eyes shut as a wave of nausea hit me because of the contact. Sam snatched his hand back even as I put my hand on my temple, pressing two fingers there in an effort to alleviate the pain.

"Hey, kiddo, sorry…" Sam said apologetically, pulling back, and I opened my eyes a crack as I took deep, measured breaths, and the roaring in my ears (when had that cropped up?) died down. "Sheesh, that's some bump," Sam said unhappily. I nodded once, still wincing, and my brother squeezed my shoulder a little in an effort to comfort me.

"Jake _is_ a good swimmer." Quil said philosophically. "He may in fact swim to Hawaii."

"Rachel would be mad at me." Paul noted.

"You guys are _so_ funny." I muttered sarcastically. "This isn't about Jake swimming to Hawaii. Embry and Jake are having a freaking crisis and you dorks are being irritating as hell—" I ignored the muttered reprimand on my language from Sam, "And maybe you should be trying to help them." I finished lamely. Sam scrubbed at his face.

"Derrick's there, though." He muttered defensively. "And it's Leah's job to deal with the pack when our glorious leader is otherwise unable to do so."

"Not the time to be bitter and angry about no longer being pack leader, big bro." I said chidingly, and Sam shot me an unhappy look. "Seriously, Sam—Leah's not here. So you can either take a hit to your pride and go retrieve her," I paused, letting this option settle, "Or you can go settle this yourself. Like the big boy I know you are."

"You're manipulative." Sam muttered angrily, but he pushed himself off the couch, and I rewarded him with a happy smile. "I don't like being manipulated. It makes me mad, ask anyone." I leaned cautiously back on the couch, closing my eyes happily. "Oy, wait—Ro, you can't sleep with a concussion—"

"Resting." I mumbled tiredly, but I opened my eyes to look at my brother. Sam watched me worriedly, seemingly torn on a decision, before he turned to Brady, who was sprawled in an arm chair, texting someone. Sam snatched his phone, ignoring the dirty look that Jared shot him, and Brady scowled up at Sam.

"Hey—Brady, your job is to keep her awake, okay?" Sam ordered, and Brady seemed to get frantic, now.

"What? No--I can't--"

"Rose will not bite you." Sam assured him seriously. Brady frowned distrustfully.

"You don't _know_ that." Brady argued. "She might."

Suddenly there was silence as Embry, with just jeans on, no shirt, appeared in the backyard, visible through the window. Embry took the steps up to the back door two at a time, tearing open the door in a heartbeat, and in the next, he was sitting on the couch, pulling me onto his lap. I curled up comfortably, and Embry just cradled me closer to his chest, his arms tense around me. "Rosie--God, I got so scared." Em murmured into my hair. "I didn't--Jake was too mad for me to realize that he'd hurt you and then I wasn't sure how badly because _he_ wasn't sure how badly..." Embry sounded so shaky that I couldn't resist the urge to tilt my head up, sliding a hand to the back of his neck so I could pull his lips down to meet mine. My achy head coupled with the incredible feeling that hit me everytime Embry and I kissed made my head spin, and Embry seemed to sense that, because he pulled away after only a second, his worry-stained gaze flicking to the bump just above my eyebrow. "Jake... Jesus, I didn't even..." He pressed a kiss to right beside the bump--any closer to the actual bruise and it would have hurt. "Jake hurt you."

"Accidentally." I murmured to Embry. "It was an accident. You know and I know that he'd never do it on purpose." Embry seemed to accept this, but he still looked thoroughly upset, even as he tucked my head under his chin.

"I understand, then, that there's nothing for me to break up?" Sam asked after a moment. "Also, Ro can't sleep, she's got a concussion." I winced at the tensing of Embry's arms and how I was shifted as he sat straight up at this news--he'd known I'd hit my head, not that it was a concussion--but Sam just seemed to watch Embry levelly, waiting for an answer to his question.

"Derrick's trying to murder Jake." Embry said darkly. "But it's not--unanticipated." He shrugged. "I don't mind if it continues." There was a wry tone to his voice, and I made myself uncurl to look at him frankly, a scolding look on my face, before I glanced at Sam, fixing him with a scowl. Sam winced under my gaze, shifting guiltily from foot to foot before he dropped his head, giving up, and went out the back door to jog down the stairs.

"This is sad." Paul muttered. "Seriously, Ro--this is just--pathetic."

"Only pathetic from your point of view." I reminded him, cozily returning to my spot in Embry's arms. "I like it."

"You're biased." Paul muttered. I laughed a little, grinning.

"Duh."


	31. In Which Geoffrey Reappears

Chapter 31

"Embry, no—Jesus, I know you don't care about school, but you are smarter than this." I muttered irritatedly as I scolded my boyfriend over his math homework. "Seriously."

"Rosie…" Embry whined. "Can't you just…" He sighed dramatically. "Let me be stupid?" He demanded. I raised my eyebrow—my right one, as my left one had been rendered immobile by the black eye I'd developed from getting smacked in the face by Embry's coffee table. The black eye had mostly gone away now, but not so much that I could do things like raise my left eyebrow.

It'd been a week since Jake had had his little panic attack, and the fact of it was, Embry and Jake, somehow, still hadn't talked. Embry was too angry at Jake for having hurt me, though, to accept anything less than a complete apology (and let's face it, how many of _those_ d'you get in life?) and Jake was too mad at his dad and his sister and really Paul as well to see straight. Embry was super pissed at his mom, too, but it was less noticeable. Angry Jake entailed broken things, mean people, yelling, angry silence—anything and everything he could do to hurt your feelings _back_, he would. Angry Embry was more contained. Sort of like a time bomb. But I knew that if I dragged Embry onto the topic of his parents or forgiving Jake, he'd get just as pissy as Jake.

"I'm going to Stanford, next year." I pointed out with a grin. "There are lots and lots of smart people at Standford." I paused, letting this sink in, and Embry just watched me with a tolerant expression. "Lots and lots of smart _boys_." Embry's face darkened.

"Not funny." He protested.

"Very funny."

"No."

'Um, yes." I laughed, and Embry pouted unhappily, glaring at me. I just grinned at him, kicking my feet up on his lap, and he didn't even flinch, his huge hands sliding off the table to my calves, then sliding down my calves to give me a foot massage. I sighed relaxedly, leaning back in my chair and closing my eyes, taking deep breaths. "I love you." I breathed, and Embry chuckled quietly. I let this last for another minute before I let a very small smile edge onto my lips. "But I'm not forgetting about the math homework."

"No—Rose!" Embry cried, frowning at me, but he didn't stop massaging my foot. I lifted my head up straight, my eyes snapping open so I could grin triumphantly at him. I always won these debates, every time—I didn't even know why he continued to try. "Ro—I'm stupid. I'm okay with that, you _should_ be okay with that considering that you've been friends with me for several million years…" Embry whined, and I frowned, meeting his gaze seriously.

"Hey, you're _not_ stupid." I told him firmly. "I've been your best friend for several million years so, yeah, I would know: you _aren't_. You got pretty good grades up till second semester junior year—and that wasn't even your fault. You turned into a wolf. Normal children don't have to deal with the stress of being multi-species." I pointed out in a factual voice, and Embry rolled his eyes, but grinned. "No, but seriously, Em. You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for."

"Aww, did little wittle Emmy need some self-esteem?" Paul cooed mockingly as he came in Embry's back door, and I glanced up, shooting him a warning look even as Embry looked down at his paper, just ignoring him. I fixed Paul with a look, but Paul, unrepentantly, crossed to the couch and flopped down, flipping on the brand new TV. Mr. Black had flown back from Hawaii once Rachel called him, and then Sam had helped Embry rebuild the living room. Mr. Black had paid for the new furniture and television. Since, you know, he owed Embry some kind of paternal authority and his mother some kind of child support, and it had been Jake (only legitimate son) who'd destroyed the living room. But it would be killed by the end of the year by these stupid wolf boys.

Embry seemed pretty content to ignore Paul and focus on the math, and instead of bothering him, I grabbed my laptop bag off the table, tugging it out and pulling my laptop out and placing it onto my lap. My feet were still on Embry's lap, so I could just balance my computer on my legs. I flipped it open and then typed in my password, waiting for my desktop to load before I opened Safari. I hesitated, before typing in the name of my school e-mail website: I hadn't checked it in months. I frowned as I tried to remember the last time I'd checked it, and then the page popped up—103 unchecked messages. Oops.

I scrolled through them one by one, deleting most of them, but my phone rang before I could get to the end, and I reached into my bag, sitting on the ground beside my chair. I pulled it out and flipped it open, sitting back in my chair as I held my phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hi Rose!" A familiar voice said cheerfully, and I blinked in surprise.

"Uncle Geoffrey?" I asked, lifting my legs off of Embry's lap and pushing myself to my feet.

"Yeah—I got your cell phone number from your Mom." He said easily as I crossed the room, wrapping my arm around my stomach self-consciously. Embry's and Paul's gazes both followed me, but I just opened the front door, stepping out onto the front porch. I closed the door behind me and sank down on the steps there.

"You've talked to her?" I asked him softly.

"I know you haven't." Geoffrey said softly, but he didn't sound very accusatory. "Sweetheart, Shannon needs to hear from you—"

"She—look, Geoffrey, I set a couple boundaries. Not a lot of them, but a few of them. There are even less of them when it comes to Mom but I can't…some stuff slide." I said cryptically. Geoffrey waited for me to go on, but I just fell silent, tiredly, before Geoffrey spoke.

"I'm going to need you to clear that up at some point." Geoffrey said softly. "But I do think I understand the concept." I sighed: sometimes it felt like in my family, Geoffrey and I were the only people who had their heads on straight.

"So, I assume you didn't call to get me to talk to Mom?" I said hopefully, and Geoffrey sighed.

"I'm in LaPush…" Geoffrey said, sounding confused. "Walter told me you were being appraised of the situation." I sighed in exasperation. "Of course, Walter's an idiot, so I suppose this was to be expected." I chuckled a little. "Walter's back in Atlanta. I sent him back there, I couldn't stand listening to him whine, my God—anyway, your Mom's got a good lawyer and is back on her medication. Shannon's trial is on March 26th." I digested this information, before something else jumped to my mind: Geoffrey lived in _France_.

"When'd you get here?" I asked.

"When my sister was arrested for child abuse and neglect." Geoffrey said quietly. "For abusing and neglecting my niece and nephew." I winced, pressing my free hand to my forehead, looking down at the denim of my jeans. "Rosie. You should have called me, kiddo."

"I know."

"I would have been here in a heartbeat. I've got a job, yeah, but who the hell cares about that—Walter's an idiot. Walter doesn't understand a thing—he's so caught up with his new fiancée that I don't think he's actually taken a second to think about what he's doing to you two." Geoffrey sighed quietly. "You're my niece, Derrick's my nephew. I would have been on the first plane over."

"That's not—It's not that simple," I tried, tiredly.

"How about Amelie and I take you and Derrick to dinner on the twentieth, then, and you can explain?" Geoffrey said softly, and I nodded cautiously: March 20th was a week away. That was enough time to get Derrick out of any shifts he may have had at the time. "Your mom told us that you and Derrick were staying with Sam Uley—she didn't explain who he was, but—"

"Sam's my brother." I said in an exhausted voice. There was a beat of silence. "I figured out who my dad was—Henry Uley, he's a pretty nice guy. Walter just told him to piss off." I ran my free hand through my hair. "In case you didn't pick it up, Der and I aren't really good with Walter right now."

"Walter told your father to piss off?" Geoffrey asked, sounding horrified. "You're telling me you guys had a dad who wanted to be in the picture and—Walter—" Geoffrey was choking on the words, he was so angry. "I'm going to kill him."

"It's not worth the effort." I told him softly. "Sam's been taking good care of us. He was one of the original three to call social services on Der and me back when we were trying to live on our own, right after Mom ditched…" I let my voice drift off. "He said he couldn't have little siblings and be unsure on how they were being taken care of." I paused. "He's a good guy."

"Sounds like it." Geoffrey said softly. "Will he want to come to dinner next week? Amelie and I would love to meet him… and I need to know how many people to make the reservation for."

"You should make it for six." I said carefully, knowing that what I was about to do was going to set off some alarms. But I couldn't leave Embry out of what was becoming a Mehta Family Meeting of the Minds. Embry was going to be around for a while. He should get a trial run at the dynamics of my family if he was going to be part of it.

"Who's the sixth?" Geoffrey asked curiously, and I blushed. I wasn't sure how my uncle was going to take the news that he was going to have a nephew-in-law.

"My…" I swallowed, summoning the courage. "My boyfriend. Embry Call." I paused, before I regretted my word choice: Geoffrey was going to catch on that Embry was more than a boyfriend really fast. He was a pretty smart guy. "He's actually my fiancé. But we're not getting married straight away—at least not till I graduate Stanford or something—"

"Stanford?" Geoffrey echoed, confused. "You're going to Stanford? You're _engaged_?" He stopped himself. "You are seventeen, right? I'm not…wrong about that?" I laughed softly. "Jesus, Rose."

"I know, I sound crazy, but—Embry's going to be around for the long run," I explained softly. "I mean it, Geoffrey. I know I sound irresponsible and crazy, but—I'm not one of those girls. You know that. I've got it together. I know it sounds scary when you first hear it—and I swear, I'm not pregnant, Mom already thought that—" Geoffrey chuckled weakly, " but it's not as scary as you think it is. I swear."

"Embry Call." Geoffrey said quietly. "You'll be Rose Call."

"Doesn't that sound nice?" I asked, grinning despite myself. "Rosie Mehta Call."

"You've got like three names there, kiddo." Geoffrey pointed out. "Rose Mehta. Rose—Uley, you said your dad's name was?—and Rose Call, soon." He sighed. "Alright, bring the kid to dinner and I'll make sure I bring my gun."

"You don't have a gun." I said shortly. "And this would not be an ideal time to invest in one." I sighed. "And Derrick and Sam are already on if-you-hurt-Rose-you're-dead patrol, don't worry." Geoffrey snorted in laughter, and I just let the silence sit after he stopped, before he continued, sounding less amused.

"Rosie Posie…" Geoffrey said doubtfully, then he fell silent. "Alright, sweetheart, I guess I'll see you all next week at…how does La Petite sound?" I rolled my eyes: that was the nicest restaurant in town, so I'd never been there, but it was such a Geoffrey choice: my uncle believed that unless it was the best available, whatever _it_ was, it wasn't worth anything.

"Alrighty." I agreed. "See you then—love you!"

"Love you too, angel. See you." I flipped my phone shut, and sighed quietly.

"Everything okay?" Embry's voice, behind me, asked, as he came up to sit beside me on the steps. The screen door, in front of the front door, slammed shut behind him, and I turned to look at him tiredly.

"You have to come to dinner with me next week." I said, as Embry reached forward to push a few stray hairs out of my face. "My uncle and aunt are in town, they wanted Derrick and me to go to dinner with them and he brought up Sam and invited him, and then I mentioned that I thought you should come too." I pressed my lips together tiredly. "One day, we're going to be married, and even right now we're in a committed relationship." I sighed. "So I thought you should meet the semi-normal person in my family."

"Thanks." Embry said softly, reaching around to put his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. He pressed his lips to the top of my head, and I leaned against him heavily. "You alright?" He asked me softly, and I took a deep breath.

"I wish my family was just… a little less exhausting." I murmured softly.

"Me too, baby," Embry murmured into my hair. "Me too."


	32. In Which Dinner Goes Wrong Quickly

Chapter 32

"This is going to be awkward." Derrick whined as we got out of his car in front of the only nice restaurant in the entirety of La Push. We were going to dinner with my uncle Geoffrey and his wife Amelie in an effort to somewhat remedy the rift that had been ripped between the Mehta clan and myself.

"It has to happen." I insisted as I slammed my door behind me, lifting my purse higher on my shoulder: Sam, Derrick and Embry were already standing before me, in a line. "Family is important, Der, and we've got crap in that respect." I pointed out. Sam raised an eyebrow, and I smiled angelically at my big brother. "Except for our superhero of a big brother and my fantastic fiancé." I said with a grin at Embry as well, bouncing forward to slip my arms around his neck, kissing him lightly on the lips. My fiancée tilted his head to the side just a little, deepening the kiss, and I melted in his arms until my idiot of a twin decided to interrupt us.

"Coming from the girl who tried the argument _grandparents seem superfluous_ when her boyfriend's dad came back into the picture." Derrick retorted under his breath, and I pulled out of Embry's arms to smack my brother lightly on the back of his head. Derrick glared at me, then glanced at Sam with a dark frown. Embry just grabbed my hand squeezing it a little before just holding it comfortably. "Isn't she supposed to get hurt when she does that since I'm all lupine and nonsense?" Embry winced at the possibility of what Derrick was suggesting, and pulled me back against him.

"She is similarly all lupine and nonsense." Sam quoted. He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. "You two are twins, if you'll recall."

"Yeah, but we're fraternal." I said, rolling my eyes. "We're no more related than Leah and Seth."

"But much, much scarier." Sam muttered under his breath, and I flashed him a pleased smile, before tugging Embry up the steps after me. "Ugh, this feels weird without Emily." Sam said displeasedly as he climbed up the front steps of the restaurant.

"I know, and I'm sorry but I was stupid on the phone and forgot to tell Uncle Geoffrey to count her…"I said with a wince, pulling the restaurant door open. Embry followed me inside, and I led the way to the front desk part. "Hi, Mehta party of six?" I asked with a smile, glancing around the full restaurant, and the Hostess glanced up at us, raising her eyebrows silently. "My aunt and uncle might already be here…"

"Yeah." She said, nodding with a smile. She grabbed four menus from the podium thing she was standing at, and waited for Sam and Derrick to follow us reluctantly into the restaurant before she walked deeper inside. Embry put a hand on my back as we walked, and I glanced up at him, flashing him a bright smile.

"Rosie!" My aunt Amelie exclaimed as she spotted me, and she jumped to her feet. Geoffrey chuckled good naturedly, putting down the bread he'd been buttering as Derrick came forward with a big grin, shaking his hand energetically. I hugged Amelie briefly before Derrick and I switch relatives, and I kissed Geoffrey on the cheek.

Amelie had pale skin, kind of comical in comparison to my uncle's very dark skin, and had dark brown hair and brown eyes. She wasn't very tall but she sort of had a presence in the room because she was kind of the decision maker in the Geoffrey-Amelie dynamic. Geoffrey was pretty tall, about six feet, though now, of course, he was a good seven inches shorter than my ever-growing brother and a foot shorter than my fiance and Sam.

I pulled back from my uncle with an excited smile, beckoning Sam and Embry forward from where they'd been standing a few feet away. "Geoffrey, Amelie, this is our big brother Sam Uley," Geoffrey nodded easily, surveying our brother with narrowed eyes. I broke away from the arm Geoffery had had around my shoulders to cross to Embry, slipping an arm around his waist. Embry pulled me against him lightly with a hand on my back. "And this is Embry Call, my fiancé."

"Nice to meet you, though I think I've met you before." Geoffrey said, shaking Embry's extended hand with a suspicious smile. "You seem really familiar…"

"When you came when we were twelve, you probably met him." I explained, pulling away from Embry. "Hey, let's sit."

"No, I…" Geoffrey paused, evidently trying to remember something. "Are you any relation to—ugh, I just met him today again at the store—" Geoffrey rubbed a hand over his face as we all sank into seats, and I dropped my bag beside my chair. "Black, his last name was—he's an older man, in a wheelchair?" Geoffrey asked, looking at Embry intently across the table.

"Yeah, that's my dad." Embry said briefly, and under the table, I grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"You look so much like him." Geoffrey sighed, glancing back to Derrick and me. "So it's been too long: how are things going? School?" He glanced at me. "And I could have sworn I heard you say Stanford on the phone…" I laughed, nodding.

"Embry, my girlfriend Leah and I filled out her application and sent it in." Derrick said with a grin.

"I didn't realize Rosie was…well, that smart." Amelie admitted, her slight French accent evident as she smiled apologetically at me. "It's not that I thought you were stupid, but Stanford…"

"Is a crazy good school." Sam said with a proud grin. "She's a smarty pants."

"Thanks," I said, ducking my head and trying to lessen how huge the grin on my face was. I smoothed out my napkin on my lap.

"Out of curiosity," Geoffrey said carefully, and I glanced up at him. "How d'you intent to pay for Stanford?"

"I'll bury myself in student loans and hopefully one day make enough money to dig my way out." I explained with a tight smile, reaching for my water. "My dad said he wants to help out but Stanford is a hell of a lot of money to want to 'help out' on…"

"You know you have a college fund…?" Geoffrey asked. "As does Derrick, though considering his silence on the topic I guess there's no college on _his_ agenda…?"

"Nah." Derrick said with a grin. "Rose can be the smart one and I'll just be the brutally handsome twin." Geoffrey chuckled.

"I didn't know I had a college fund." I said firmly, putting down my water without taking a sip, my sharp eyes on Geoffrey now. "Who made it?"

"My parents." Geoffrey said. "Walter and I continued it." He looked at Derrick seriously. "My parents also left you both some money."

"Why?" I wondered, frowning a little. "They had three kids--I mean, Chloe had been born by then, if not Lea, and I don't think she got money," Chloe was Geoffrey and Amelie's oldest daughter, and Lea their youngest. "Why would they give it to their grandkids?"

"Because your mother was arrested when you were four-years-old for child abuse and child neglect and criminal negligance resulting in the endangerment of a minor." Geoffrey said clearly, fixing me with an _I-thought-you-were-smart _look. "And Mom and Dad knew that you guys wouldn't be getting any kind of headstart in the world from her." I stared at my uncle for a moment, feeling unbelievably touched: my grandparents had lived in New York City, in Forest Hills in Queens, before they'd died when Der and I were seven, and the fact of it was, we'd never been very close with them if simply because of distance.

But they'd provided for us anyway.

I sighed heavily, glancing at Derrick, who was sitting across from me, Sam and Embry sandwiched between us. Derrick looked unphased, but then again, Derrick had already had the shock of a lifetime by finding out he was a wolfboy. I guessed that after that, grandparents providing for you kind of warranted an 'oh, that's nice'.

"If you put my college fund in Rose's account, would that be enough to cover everything for Stanford, would you guess?" Derrick asked interestedly.

"Der--" I protested, my eyes wide.

"I'm not going to use it--" My twin retorted.

"That doesn't change that it's _yours." _I reiterated, looking at him seriously.

"Regardless of how much money's in Rose's account, we'll cover whatever is left over for Stanford." Amelie said definitively, looking up at the table seriously. "That's not even an issue worth thinking about. And Derrick, Rose is right, it's your money. You can do with it what you want." There were a few beats of silence: Amelie didn't talk very often, and when she did, it was usually more along the lines of "you look beautiful, sweetheart". I traded impressed looks with Geoffrey.

"Rose is my sister, I can't have you pay for her college if I can help--" Derrick protested after a second, looking troubled.

"Derrick, it's your money, shut up." Geoffrey said, raising an eyebrow at Derrick. "We're not taking it from you."

"What would I do with that money?" Derrick demanded irritatedly.

"Why in the _name_ of God don't you want this money so badly, Derrick?" I demanded, glaring at my brother. "Who _doesn't_ want money?"

"No it's just it's not _ours_." Derrick said irritatedly. "We did not _earn_ it. We just got a screwy mom and this is yet another way of throwing money at the problem instead of trying to actually help."

Silence.

"You think we've been throwing money at the problem?" Geoffrey asked slowly, looking Derrick to me, his gaze slipping over an awkward-looking Embry and an angry Sam.

"Not exactly..." I tried diplomatically.

"Rose and Derrick were living on their own." Sam said in a factual voice, but I knew he was angry about this. Sam didn't understand how fully functioning adults (ex. Walter, Geoffrey and Amelie) could _not_ care for kids being raised by a mentally ill woman. I did understand. I didn't like it, but I understood. "They were living on their own and they _never_ as far as I am aware, recieved a call from you two or Walter." Sam fixed the adults in front of us with a serious look. "And it's a flaw in the twisted system you guys had set up that they didn't feel comfortable calling you."

"We live in France." Geoffrey pointed out. "Walter was supposed to have been on top of this, on top of the hands on portion of Rose and Derrick and Shannon."

"I don't believe you didn't know that Walter would not be able to handle it." Sam said angriy. "He's your brother. And if you knew--Rose and Derrick should have been in France with you or you should have stayed in the US." Sam said angrily. "They're kids--" Geoffrey snorted, rolling his eyes at this comment.

"You're a kid, you're in no position to be telling us about--" Geoffrey retorted, but Sam was't having it.

"I'm a kid who took responsibility for my little brother and sister!" Sam and Geoffrey were practically shouting now, in the middle of the restaurant, and I glanced frantically at Embry. "I saw that they were in an unhealthy situation and _I_ called social services, _I _took custody of them!"

"We were _in a different country!" _Geoffrey shouted at Sam, standing up as he spoke and slamming his hands down on the table. "We couldn't _be_ here--"

"You made a _choice not to be here!_" Sam shouted back angrily. "You left _them_ with their Mom!"

"That's enough, we're leaving." I said, standing up too and gabbing Sam's arm and hauling him backwards. I noted, in a little bit of a panic, that Sam was shaking. Sam tore away from me and stormed out of the restaurant, and I realized that everyone in the restaurant was staring at us. I ran a frantic hand through my hair, and Embry came up beside me, grabbing my hand in his and pulling me out of the restaurant, Derrick following quickly behind us. Sam was already standing just outside the restaurant, taking fast, angry breaths.

"That was a disaster." Derrick muttered under his breath, and I flashed him an angry expression. No freaking duh.

"Sam, that--they just--" I ran a hand through my hair, staring at the twenty-year-old in front of me "Why did you do that?"

"Of course you're siding with them." Sam muttered under his breath. I glared.

"What does that mean?" I asked. "This isn't about siding, Sam—I invited you to this dinner because you're my family and you _flipped_ on Geoffrey!" I was shouting now too, but what the hell. I didn't care. "You're so goddamned stupid—he's the only member of the Mehta clan _speaking _to me right now—y'know that, right? Mom's not talking to me, Walter's not talking to me—just Geoffrey!" I shoved him angrily, but he didn't even flinch. "Why the hell did you even agree to come to this dinner if you thought this was going to happen?"

"How did _you_ not know this was going to happen?" Sam demanded. "How are _you_ not the angry one? I've seen most of the memories from Derrick's head from you guys growing up, I saw in Embry and Jared's heads how hard it was for _them_ watching _you_ try to take care of—"

"I _forgave_ them all of that because I don't have enough family to not!" I shouted back at Sam. "I've got you, Derrick, my mentally-ill mother—I'm not running around with an entire extended family here, just what I can patch together. And I can only patch together so much!" I felt tears bubble in my eyes. "Sam, how could you _do_ this? This isn't your battle!"

"Than whose is it?" Sam demanded. "If your mom and her brothers just get to push you around, and you won't do anything, why can't I—"

"Sam, I swear to God—" I turned away, stomping my foot angrily before I looked back to my big brother. "Family doesn't _do_ this crap to one another!" I shouted at Sam. "No family does _this_," I gestured to Sam and I, "To each other! No brother tries to implode what's left of his sister's family!"

"How would you even _know_ what family does, Rose? You've got, what, a twin brother almost as emotionally damaged as you are and an abusive mother—" Sam fell silent, and I felt my teeth grate as I stared at him. "Even you acknowledged it—the woman broke your ribs, she slapped you—"

"Hey!" Derrick interjected, shoving Sam backwards a little. Sam just sighed heavily, and I felt tears build in my eyes, even as I bit my lip. I was about to burst into tears because of what Sam had said--how _old_ was I?

Sam's eyes widened, seeing the tears in my eyes, and Derrick glanced at me, looking at first alarmed, then pissed off. "Nice job," He hissed at Sam.

"Derrick, give me the keys." Embry ordered in an iron voice, reaching forward and stepping between me and Sam and Derrick: I pulled my sweatshirt sleeve over my hand in the relative privacy that Embry's presence provided me with, and swiped at my eyes, startled by the tears.

Embry apparently got the keys, because he turned around a second later and I crossed to the passenger side of the car as he unlocked it. I got in easily, and Em got in on the driver side, glancing over at me worriedly. "You okay?" He asked quietly.

"Sam's an asshole." I said softly.

"If Derrick wasn't already beating him up, I would join in." Embry agreed quietly, and I kicked off my high heels beneath my seat, pulling um my legs to my chest tiredly, leaning my head against my knees.

How could everyone hate my mother more than I, if I was the one who she'd hurt the most?

......

hey guys--I changed the ending to the chapter (with the same basic message) because it thought it was a tad dramatic. i had a bad day yesterday and took it out on my characters :[ sorry


	33. In Which Things Settle

Chapter 33

_To: Rose Mehta (rmehta lphs . edu)  
From: Geoffrey Mehta (Mehta . geoffrey gmail . com)  
Sent: March 18, 2010 11:53 PM_

_Your mother's trial is on the 26th in Port Angeles. You're being called as a witness._

_Send my assistant an e-mail with who to talk to at Stanford about paying your tuition._

…

I bit my lip as I read the email that night, and midnight. Sam and I hadn't talked since the fight at the restaurant, which had been all of six hours ago, but I knew that we weren't really mad at each other. Sam just got angry over how my mom had treated me and then I got mad at him for being mad and _voila, _we were arguing. It was like a formula.

I wasn't exactly excited for my mother's trial, but I was excited that one day soon, this would be over. And that would be a miracle. I shut my laptop, moving it to the ground beside my bed before I turned out the lamp on my bedside table and lying down in my bed, pulling the blankets up around me.

This would be over soon, for better or for worse.

…………

"Rose Mehta?" The woman behind the desk asked me the next day at school, and I rose to my feet, pressing my lips together as I crossed to Mrs. Anders office door. I lifted my backpack higher on my shoulder as I pushed open the door, and the college advisor looked up at me with small, cold smile. I crossed to the chair in front of her desk, sitting down without an invitation, and I just met her gaze evenly. Our college advisor was maybe the meanest woman on earth, but she didn't scare me, if only because I had nothing to lose with her.

"This is our first meeting this year and it's March nineteenth." She said quietly. "I was expecting you much, much earlier than this. I was told by Mr. Cabot himself that you were one of the best students La Push had ever seen." She pursed her lips. "I understand that you were removed from your home earlier this year by family services, but I was not expecting _no_ meeting." She paused, waiting for my apologies, some sort of flurry of disappointment in my future and panic about putting it together. "So I assume you're here because you realized that you're not cut out for waitressing." She smirked a little. "Though you should know there's nothing to do this time of the year. It's much too late."

I ducked my head, smothering a smile at how ridiculous this woman had gotten. Mrs. Anders had let her very small amount of power over us go to her head. I lifted my head to smirk at her. "I'm going to Stanford." I told her, standing up as I slid the copy of the acceptance letter I'd made across her desk. Mrs. Anders gaped at me, before picking up the letter to read it, and I turned away, sauntering out and closing the door behind me, quietly. I grinned to myself, more than a little smug.

Take _that_, Mrs. Anders.

…

"You did _what_?" Rachel demanded, before bursting into laughter at the Prom Committee Meeting that afternoon.

"You have balls, girl." Dani said appreciatively. Dani was a nice-enough girl on Prom Committee with me, and she was also in my English class, though we weren't really friends: my new boyfriend-girlfriend status with Embry, and Derrick and Embry's running with "the wrong crowd" had landed me in a kind of awkward hate relationship with my most my teachers.

"Thank you." I said with a nod, faux-seriously, before I burst out grinning again. I was extremely proud of myself. "God, though, I just hate her _so_ much—why is she in such a bad mood all the freaking time?" I ran my hand through my hair irritatedly. "She's got no work to do in March our Senior year."

"I know." Rachel said angrily, rolling her eyes. "She got me on this depressed spiral at the beginning of the year because I thought I was going to, like, not get into college." Rachel looked mad at even bringing the memory up. "But now I'm in at Williams, so it's okay."

"I didn't know that." I said with a grin. "Nice job."

"Thanks." Rachel said with a grin. "I just sort of screamed with happiness for like ten days when I found out. But I didn't come to school, so it was okay." She grinned at me, and I chuckled a little bit.

"I didn't even technically do any of the application work for Stanford." I told Rachel and Dani, and Dani raised an eyebrow.

"If this is another tale about how Rose Mehta's life just _turned out_ fabulously, please, save me the details." Dani begged, and I shot her a look of disbelief.

"My life?" I demanded, clarifying, though I knew I'd heard her correctly. Dani nodded.

"I'm obviously not completely filled in on _all _the details, but living with your big brother and almost-sister-in-law who obviously don't mind your boyfriend the Hulk," I grinned at this comparison, "doesn't sound like a disaster. Correct me if I'm wrong, but… yeah."

"That's true." I said, keeping my grin up: the fact of it was, when you left out my mother's existence, my life was pretty easy. Sam and Emily loved me (even if we were fighting right now), I was going to a really great college, I had a fantastic boyfriend-fiancé, etc. But then you factored in my mother and all of her baggage and then you were like _oops. Wrong math._

Rachel's gaze flicked over my shoulder. I twisted to look towards the doorway of the classroom we were in, and spotted Derrick, standing in the doorway. "You told me you wanted to be picked up at six." He said, frowning at me, and I pulled my cell phone out of my bag, peeking at the front: 6:30. Oops.

"Sorry, Der." I said with a grin up at my big brother, and I stood up. "Hey, I'll see distractedly, their gazes still on my brother. Since I hadn't known Rachel or Dani very long, I didn't really know how long their huge giant crushes on Derrick had been going on, but they kind of made me uncomfortable if only because Rachel _really liked_ Derrick. Dani just thought Derrick was hot, according to her, but Rachel actually _liked_ Derrick. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

"Okay, walk." I ordered, and Derrick obeyed, grinning at the girls behind me before he turned and walked out of the classroom. "Alright, for a boy whose got a girlfriend who doesn't make him look like a giant," Leah had grown to six feet two inches, as a consequence of becoming a wolf-girl, "You flirt a lot with other girls."

"Shut up, y'know I'd never cheat." Derrick muttered irritatedly, and I just grinned impishly at him. "You're such a brat, Christ." He said after a second, rolling his neck, and I winced as it cracked.

"That's so gross." I moaned, shoving his shoulder, and Derrick glared at me but didn't shove me. He _couldn't_—wolf-boys (and –girls, as the case was with Leah) didn't really understand their strength to the point where they could shove their non-wolf twins around without breaking said non-wolf twins' bones. "So what'd you guys do today? Prance around after some more bloodsuckers?"

"We do not _prance_." Derrick retorted.

"Mm-hmm, sure." I said, and Derrick glared at me as we emerged onto the front steps of the school. "Is Embry at the house?"

"Embry's out on rounds." Derrick told me, and I winced, ducking my head. Der shot me an apologetic look. "Sorry, I know you haven't seen him since he dropped you off last night…" He said, his voice quiet, and I just shrugged a little, flashing him a smile.

"I know he's got a job that needs doing." I said lightly, but my gaze flicked away almost instinctively even as we reached the bottom of the steps in front of the school, and I turned to my brother. "Der, I got an email from Geoffrey." I told him seriously, and my brother frowned, looking unhappy. "Mom's trial's on the twenty sixth." Derrick's gaze sharpened on me immediately: Mom was nothing to joke about.

"That's in a week." He pointed out angrily. "When did you find out?"

"This morning." I said gently, pushing my hair back from my face. "No one's hiding anything from you, Der. It just didn't feel like something that I could text you so I decided to wait until you picked me up." Derrick sighed heavily, seeming the deflate a little with the motion, and I fixed him with a serious look. "Geoffrey thinks we might have to testify." I told him carefully.

"And if we don't want to?" He demanded suspiciously, his eyes narrowed.

"Not exactly the way that works, Der. You know that." I told him.

"I hate this." Derrick muttered.

"Yeah, well, we can't do anything and we turn eighteen in three weeks. We're _so_ close to being free of this crap." I sighed heavily. "Mom's not going to be happy to see me."

"I'm not happy to see her." Derrick pointed out. "And I'm not the one she hit."

"I'm…" I paused, letting my voice trail off. "I'm not unhappy to see her."

"Why the hell not?" Derrick demanded, looking completely bewildered.

"She's my mom, Der." I said, shooting him a sideways glance. Derrick was one of maybe two people on earth who understood my mother and all her baggage and agreed with me—Mom was crazy and you couldn't punish crazy people for being crazy.

"Yes…" Derrick agreed slowly. "But it's not that simple." I frowned at him, stopping in front of our school. "Ro—just—we're screwed up, okay?" Derrick asked me, and I crossed my arms across my chest, before nodding. "And Mom is sick. But Mom wasn't _always_ sick. And plenty of people live with bipolar disorder without being the world destroyer Mom is." He fixed me with a look. "Mom was okay, for a few years after the thing with the trunk. And she decided, when she was okay, to stop taking her medicine." Ha paused. "And she knew what she did when she wasn't on the medicine." He looked at me pleadingly. "She blew us up, Ro. She looked at the fully functioning family we could have been and she threw a wrench in it and dragged us down with her." Derrick sighed. "And that almost destroyed us, Rosie. You know that."

"I…" I fell silent, looking away for a second as I pushed my hair back with my hand. I normally would have snapped defensively at this point. But I trusted Derrick to understand about this. "I know she's abusive, Der." I said shakily, looking at my twin. Derrick's eyes widened a little, but he remained silent so I could continue to talk. "I faced that when she didn't like Embry, when she wouldn't get in a car with Embry, had it been in her control." I sighed. "Just let me deal with the rest of it, okay? This Mom issue seems to be working itself out, sort of. You're okay, I'm okay, Sam's got custody of us and Geoffrey's taking care of Mom's trial so we can just hang out."

"Alright…" Derrick murmured doubtfully, and I sighed in relief, turning away from my brother.

The issue with Mom was almost over. I could stop worrying about it once the trial ended.

……………

"Never have I ever…" Jared's voice trailed off, before his gaze flicked challengingly across the room to Paul. "Made out with Rose."

"I hate you." Paul muttered, blushing. I just blushed too, and Embry shifted uncomfortably, something I only knew because I was sitting on his lap. We were playing Never Have I Ever, mostly because we got bored, fast, and it was a lot of fun. It'd been just three days since Derrick and I had settled the Mom situation outside of school, and things were sort of calm. Even Sam and I weren't really arguing anymore.

"When did you make out with _Paul_?" Kim asked me in a scandalized voice.

"A dare." Jared said with a grin. "Rose lost like twelve double or nothing rounds of who had to do the dare and thus got the biggest dare ever, and had to kiss Paul." Jared chuckled, shaking his head. "And I've still never laughed harder in my life."

"I don't like you." I grumbled.

"Never Have I Ever…" Kim's voice trailed off. "Hit someone."

"Rose, you lose." Leah told me with a grin, and I chuckled, ducking my head with a blush before I looked up again.

"I had this lot as my friends growing up and you're telling me _you_ wouldn't have had violent tendencies?" I demanded, and Leah chuckled. Embry pulled me back against him, pressing a kiss to my bare shoulder and then another to where my neck met my shoulder, and then up my neck. I leaned my head back, a smile playing on my lips, before suddenly Derrick was standing darkly over us.

"Sister dear." He said in a tight voice. I pulled away to grin sheepishly at Derrick. "You're mean, y'know that?"

"Love you." I said, shrugging my shoulders a little.

"I wish I'd gotten a twin brother. That, I could have dealt with." Derrick muttered under his breath as he sagged down on the couch beside Embry and I, and I reached over to pat his cheek with a smile.

"Keep wishing, there, bro."


End file.
